Nixa High School QB proves he is the ultimate team player after playing entire season on torn ACL
NIXA, Mo. (BVM) — Whether a senior season is canceled, postponed or missed due to injury, it is devastating for any high school athlete to endure. Nixa quarterback Reid Potts was determined to not let that happen this fall, and ended up playing his entire senior season with one of the toughest injuries any athlete can suffer.
Potts played multiple sports growing up, and developed a true love for the gridiron as soon as he started in second grade. Potts also has played basketball throughout his life, and this winter will be the first season he misses.
The 18-year-old senior has good genes when it comes to football, as his dad played in college and his older brother also played at Nixa — actually attending the Manning Passing Academy during high school.
Potts is a huge fan of Peyton Manning, and has also grown to love the way Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers plays the game. Seeing his brother’s success in high school, Potts loved every minute of attending games, and knew he would want to be out on the field in the future.
Over the years, Potts developed into a true quarterback who also posed some dual-threat ability with his running. In seventh and eighth grade, Potts tried out to play quarterback, but instead found a new home at the wide receiver position.
Going into his first year at Nixa, however, the Eagles freshman team did not have a starting quarterback, creating interest for Potts’ in going back to his former position.
“Freshman year came, and we didn’t have a quarterback,” Potts said. “I wasn’t going to play receiver if I have no one to throw the ball to me so I wanted to try out for quarterback.”
Potts followed in his brother’s footsteps by attending the Manning Passing Academy — which he would do three years in a row — and became quarterback of the Eagles’ freshman team. Although he wasn’t necessarily “fundamentally sound,” Potts enjoyed getting to play the quarterback position once again.
Playing primarily JV at the beginning of his sophomore year — where he has fond memories of playing with many of his close friends — Potts soon got called up to varsity, playing in three games at the end of the season.
By his junior year, Potts became the Eagles’ full-time varsity starter. Despite performing well, Nixa still struggled, hovering around the .500 mark for the season. But last offseason, the team hired a new head coach in John Perry, and between he and the senior leadership of Potts, the Eagles have turned things around.
“The day that I knew coach Perry was the coach I sent him a message and we had quarterback meetings throughout my second semester of junior year at 6 a.m.,” Potts said. “We had him over to the house for dinner a lot and we just clicked. He’s a really good coach and really fun, but he’s more than just a coach and he’s a perfect guy that the players like.”
However, this offseason proved more difficult for a first-year coach than ever before with the pandemic raging on.
“I had those doubts,” Potts said about his senior season potentially not being played. “But I would still just try to work as hard as I could.”
With a new coach, new stadium and high hopes, the Eagles were poised for a special season. Then came July 29.
Running an inside zone play in a morning practice, Potts kept the ball, attempted a juke, and his leg twisted. With his knee increasingly swelling, the senior quarterback went to see a doctor, who initially said that his ACL still seemed intact, indicating the injury was more likely a sprain.
Potts and his family would seek a second opinion, however, and the news was not as positive this time around.
“We went to another doctor and he looked at the MRI and said, ‘No, you have a complete ACL tear and are going to need to get surgery,’” Potts said. “Me and Coach Perry were talking quite a bit during that time and I was telling him that no matter what happens, I was willing to brace it up and just play however he needs me.”
After passing some basic tests to be signed off to take the field, Potts decided that despite the injury, he was going to play his last high school football season for the Eagles. Of course, he would not be able to use his mobility that had been a big weapon in his arsenal previously, but being out there proved his love for the game, and his team.
In the second game of the Eagles’ season — the first contest of 2020 that Potts played in — Nixa would face off against Joplin. Potts quickly settled in, throwing a touchdown pass on the second play of the game. But soon after, the quarterback attempted a rollout to the left, and blew out his knee again.
While the Eagles would win a close 35-34 contest, Potts’ wasn’t sure if he would be able to keep playing, as his meniscus was now torn as well. He would go on to miss the following three games, but Potts would soon make a return against rival Ozark.
The senior would excel down the stretch of the season, highlighted by setting a school record with a four-touchdown pass performance in a game against Carl Junction late in the year. Potts’ play the remainder of the campaign helped the Eagles to an 8-3 record.
“Coach Perry did a really good job of implementing a system where I knew where the ball should go before it was snapped,” Potts explained. “It was a really great season, and I’m happy with how it ended.”
Besides Perry, Potts’ family and the majority of his teammates, everyone else was unaware the Nixa quarterback was playing the entire season on a torn ACL. Potts surprised many of his opponents and friends when his injury was publicly revealed after the season.
“If it was my junior year, I definitely would have sat out and had surgery,” Potts said. “I couldn’t have not played in my senior season and didn’t want to have that feeling of regret. My thought process was that I would rather go out there and try, and if I physically can’t, then I can accept that.
“The day that all came out I got a lot of messages about it and there was a lot of reaction towards it because it doesn’t really happen often. I didn’t pay much attention to it and it wasn’t that big of a deal to me because I could still do what I needed to make the team successful and it was a lot of fun honestly.”
Despite the injury, Potts was able to help lead his team to a contending 8-3 record, a nice improvement from the 2019 season.
“I was so proud of my team at the end of the year,” Potts said. “I think I had the best offensive line in Missouri and didn’t get sacked one time, and I had a great relationship with all my coaches.”
Potts recently had surgery on his ACL as well as both of his meniscuses, which were reconstructed. While he won’t be able to put weight on his legs for the next six weeks, Potts is already making progress in his physical therapy.
Although he has a long recovery ahead, Potts is keeping busy with Nixa’s basketball team. While he of course can’t play in his senior season, he has taken over a new role as team manager. Once he is able to, Potts plans to workout and become stronger to achieve his next goal, playing college football.
The Nixa senior is confident he will be able to walk-on somewhere to play in the future, and is keeping his options open on which school to choose. Currently, he is very interested in some Division II schools in his home state, as well as local SEC schools like the University of Arkansas and the University of Missouri.
While in college, the 18-year-old hopes to obtain a criminal justice degree. Post-college, Potts aims to join the special forces.
“My main dream would be to become a Navy SEAL,” Potts said. “The Navy SEALs are the elite of the elite and super tough.”
A true student of the game, Potts would also like to coach football someday. Perhaps he will wind up back at Nixa, where his toughness, determination and heart have left a lasting impact on the Eagles’ football program.
“Coach Perry talks about toughness all the time and I think the program under him is going to be great,” Potts concluded. “I’m really excited for the future of Nixa football.
“I hope I left a legacy of toughness. There’s always going to be guys who are stronger than you or who are bigger and faster, but you have to only worry about what you can control. Whatever you are trying to accomplish, just have a good attitude, and everything will turn out right.”
