Former Georgetown College football player Kasey still not letting amputation hold him back
GEORGETOWN, Ky. (BVM) — Kody Kasey loves football. He always has and likely always will.
However, his relationship with football has not always been easy. As a sophomore on the Georgetown College football team, Kasey was coming off of a great season, one in which he was named a starter at cornerback and earned second team all-conference in the NAIA’s Mid-South Conference.
“I just love football, man,” Kasey said. “I love football. … My relationship with football is an ongoing teacher. It teaches me a lot of things, even life experiences. I’ve gone through some of the best times and some of the worst times through football.”
However, during the team’s homecoming game on Oct. 18, 2014, Kasey’s football career and life would change forever.
During the game, Kasey would break his leg when he was awkwardly twisted while blocking on a punt return. Though he expected it to be a simple break where a surgery would correct the issue and bring him back on the field by the next season, the injury turned out to be anything but simple. Doctors inserted a rod into his broken right leg, but an infection in the area caused complications in recovery requiring more surgeries to replace the rod and add more to stabilize the leg.
Before long, doctors told Kasey that his broken leg would likely never recover fully and he would either need to choose a future with little to no physical activity or amputation.
“Being 19 years old at the time and hearing the words out of the doctor’s mouth saying that you might have to get your leg amputated, it’s pretty hard to bear,” Kasey said. “I feel at any age hearing those types of words would be pretty hard to hear. It doesn’t matter if it’s a leg, arm, toe or a finger, you don’t want anything out of your body cut off. My whole leg was on the line. It was hard to take in.”
Kasey chose the latter option in November 2015 while his football team was preparing for their football game against the University of the Cumberlands, the same opponent against whom Kasey first broke his leg.
What happened next was nothing short of miraculous. After his brother showed him a video of Montana State football player Koni Dole playing football on a prosthetic leg, Kasey was more determined than ever to not only return his life to normalcy with his new leg, but also return to the football field.
“It was kind of crazy because this dude [Dole] is out here playing on one leg and kind of killing it,” Kasey said. “At that moment, I realized I can still do it, I can still come back and play. I don’t know if Koni Dole knows me, but he was one of the biggest inspirations for me to get back on the field.”
It was not an easy journey. At first, Kasey had a hard time balancing on his new leg, but he continued to work at it until he was finally able to jog comfortably with a leg specially designed to aid in running. However, Kasey knew jogging wouldn’t be the only thing he would have to do on a football field. He would need to cut, stop on a dime, lower his body level and tackle using his legs as the core base of his power.
“It was definitely weird starting out,” Kasey said. “I didn’t have a leg. … There’s a lot of things that aren’t as easy that I had to face, but it definitely gave me a mindset of once I get walking again, why not go after it? I have the opportunity to walk again. I have the opportunity to run again, but why not do it on a greater scale than what the odds may say or seem to be?”
It was the overwhelming love of the game and love for his teammates that truly gave Kasey the strength to go forward with his goal to play football once again.
“I figured I wanted to be back out there with my boys,” Kasey said. “Playing time at the time wasn’t what was important to me. I love football. It’s crazy how we go back to the things that hurt us most. … It’s like a passion you can’t get away from and football was definitely that for me. I just couldn’t get away from it. I loved it.”
To get back on the field, Kasey sliced the sole of one of his cleats and tape it onto his prosthetic leg so he could get traction on the playing surface. Kasey not only returned to the practice field with his team later that summer, but impressed enough with his natural athleticism to be able to earn playing time in the fall.
“Adversity happens in football all the time, how you react to it is what’s really going to show your character and it can inspire others,” Kasey said. “I was going to bust my butt just like everyone else was. I might fall a little more often. I might mess up a little more often with my feet, but I’m out there trying to push my teammates and they’re pushing me as well.”
Used primarily as a kick returner for the Tigers, Kasey would play in his first game against Cincinnati Christian in September 2016, just nine months after his leg was amputated. This wasn’t a one time deal either. This was no publicity stunt. No, Kasey had returned to play football full time, not letting his prosthetic leg hold him back one bit.
“Just stepping on that field was just exhilarating,” Kasey said. “It was one of the coolest feelings ever. … The fact that I [could] look back at what I went through, I had no leg a year before and now I’m back on the field and playing for the Tigers again. It was just a surreal feeling.”
Kasey would contribute a number of times for the Tigers during his junior campaign including returning four kicks for 98 yards as well as adding a tackle on defense as a defensive back.
Over his last two seasons, Kasey tallied six returns for 88 yards and also saw action in nine games as a cornerback. Among his memorable plays included a 41-yard return against Bluefield (Va.), the longest return of his career post-surgery.
“I’ll never forget,” Kasey said. “I saw one of my teammates lay somebody out and a huge hole opened up and I took it. I was like, ‘Oh man, there’s an opportunity for me to score!’ … It was a highlight of that season for me. It was cool I could still move a little bit. … I can’t even explain it enough. It was a joy for sure.”
Kasey received a number of recognitions for his accomplishment to return to the field. In 2017, Kasey was featured in a Sports Illustrated article as well as awarded the Mid-South Conference Champion of Character Award given to student-athletes for their academic, athletic, campus leadership successes. Kasey also received the Touchdown Club of Columbus President’s Award in 2018.
Now done with school and living in Huntsville, Ala. working in the Department of Justice, Kasey continues to beat the odds. As a walking inspiration, Kasey has spread his story across the country to a number of institutions from sports teams to schools to churches to award ceremonies. Kasey has also recently worked at the FIELD Football Academy in Huntsville as a defensive backs and retuners coach.
“I’m still around football,” Kasey said. “Football is always going to be a part of me. It was only a matter of time before I got back involved with it. … If there’s an opportunity to give back to the youth, I’m going to do that the best I can. I think it’s awesome I get to coach these little kids and show them what football has taught me.”
Though his injury may have changed his life, Kasey still strives to not let his amputation define him.
“Every time somebody asks me to share, I think it’s just another extension of an impact I can continue to make,” Kasey said. “It was definitely a journey, but a journey well worth it nonetheless.”
