DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — Tyler Hafford has a special appreciation for the many young patients of the Shriners Hospitals for Children seeking to overcome physical challenges, often in relative isolation.
Barely two years ago, the recent Brewer High School graduate was feeling similar loneliness as he recuperated from an automobile accident that left him barely able to move and put his football future in doubt.
As he shared his comeback story this week while preparing for the Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic, there was not only thankfulness for his own recuperative abilities but also respect for the hospitals and medical professionals that are the fundraising beneficiaries of this 28th annual meeting of the state’s top senior players from the previous football season.
“I really appreciate what the Shriners do because they put their hands out to the person that really is down, and you don’t really understand what it’s like to be alone and suffering from something unless you’ve had to do it,” said Hafford, a member of the East team training at Foxcroft Academy ahead of Saturday’s 4 p.m. game at Hill Stadium in Saco.
“What the Shriners do is give people hope that they’re not alone and that can be the pivotal point in any recovery. In any comeback you need that support, and that’s what they do.”
An accident and its aftermath
Hafford, a starter at cornerback and a wide receiver as a sophomore on the 2014 Brewer football team, was on his way to meet friends one day in May 2015 when he rounded a corner only to see a deer run out in front of his car.
“I swerved to avoid it and ended up hitting a telephone pole,” Hafford recalled. “My head hit off the steering wheel and that was the beginning of a long road.”
Initial tests didn’t indicate anything serious, but just as Hafford was about to leave the hospital that prognosis grew much darker.
“I had to go to the bathroom and it was when I tried to stand up that I realized there was nothing in my legs, there was no connection there,” he said. “I could stand up but I couldn’t move my feet. It just wouldn’t register.”
Hafford soon learned the injury that so limited his movement stemmed from what might best be described as a double concussion.
“My brain hit the front of my skull as my head hit the steering wheel and then when my head bounced back I got a concussion in the back of my brain from it rattling backward,” said Hafford.
He remained in the hospital for a little more than a week before returning home to continue his recovery.
“I was carried to my room, I couldn’t walk upstairs and I spent two months on bed rest,” he said. “I had [physical] therapy coming in every day, multiple times a day, I did that for the whole summer.”
Not only was Hafford concentrating on regaining full movement, he was determined to be ready for the start of football practices in mid-August.
“When I met with the concussion specialist I made a deal with him, that I would work my tail off to get back so I could play and be with my teammates but he would have to give me a fair shake, a fair set of tests, and I’d ace them,” he said.
“He basically laughed me off and gave me a 2 percent chance of coming back and a 1 percent chance unless I did yoga, so, of course, I did yoga.”
That challenge spurred Hafford’s competitive juices as much as any game he had ever played.
“I was building strength, I was on a walker and crutches, and after two months I started doing out[patient] therapy,” he said. “That’s about all I did all day was just try to get everything back, and I got to that point and I aced all the tests and blew the doctor’s mind basically.”
Most of that recovery work was done with just a therapist nearby or by himself, which was a revelation for Hafford.
“You definitely learn a lot of things as a man being alone all the time,” he said. “I learned a lot about not having to rely on other people and relying on myself, basically. The biggest lesson I really learned was that when you go down, the world’s going to keep moving and it’s all up to you if you’re going to get back up.”
Cleared for action
Hafford gained clearance to resume his football career the weekend before preseason training camp started in August 2015.
“He worked his butt off to get back into the shape he needed to be in to come back,” said Brewer High football head coach Nick Arthers. “His validation was being able to step out onto that field on the first day, he really showed himself that he could accomplish anything if he put his mind to it.”
Hafford returned to his role as a two-way starter, though he soon learned that support for his quick return to football was tinged with concerns about his health.
“When I got signed off there was a lot of skepticism and people saying, ‘Is he playing? ‘Why is he doing that?’ or ‘Why are they letting him play?” Hafford said. “What it came down to was that if you were there you could see how much I grinded to get back to my team and to support my team, that was the thing that drove me.
“The community worried about it a lot, wondering if I was going to take that hit, and I worried about it my junior year, I was a little more timid playing safety. But then I started realizing, ‘You’ve got to play,’ and I loved it so much I didn’t even think about it anymore.”
Hafford helped Brewer reach the Class B North championship game.
“There were times when you could see that he was a little tentative because of everything that had happened,” said Arthers, who is an assistant coach for the Lobster Bowl’s East squad, “and the injuries were still taking a toll on his body, but he never complained about it at all.
“Part of his recuperation process was that he really found out a lot about himself. He became a different person essentially, physically and mentally. How he approached life was a little different and made him a better person.”
Hafford admitted that even as his physical health improved, he continued to battle residual issues.
“I felt in good shape, but the only thing was the [post traumatic stress disorder] that followed me for a while,” he said. “It was a little scary, but now it’s just a reminder of where I was.”
Senior year to remember
Hafford played basketball as a junior for the Witches, all the while continuing to build up strength and skills in anticipation of his senior football season.
“I dedicated myself more than ever before because I had all the other distractions out of the way from the accident,” he said.
One early sign that he was all the way back last fall came during an exhibition game against Bangor when he returned a punt 41 yards for a touchdown.
“After I brought that back and with the whole crowd blowing up and just understanding where I had come from, from being in my room all alone to everyone cheering for me after they thought I couldn’t do it, that was huge for me and set the bar,” he said. “There was nothing that could stop me.”
Hafford played offense, defense and special teams while serving as a captain for Brewer, which again advanced to the Class B North final before dropping a 14-12 decision to Brunswick, the eventual state champion.
“When his senior year rolled around he was pretty excited about it knowing that he was going to be 100 percent,” said Arthers. “He knew the injury was in the past and he was looking forward to having a good season and he had a great season.”
Hafford has suffered no subsequent concussions since his automobile accident.
The final chapter?
The Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic likely will be Hafford’s last organized football game, and his contributions to the East squad during practices already have been substantial.
“He’s been a kid who from day one here has been very vocal,” said East head coach Matt Perkins of Windham High School. “It’s fun as a coach when kids aren’t afraid to communicate, and he acts like a young man. He looks you in the eye, talks to you, doesn’t mind having a little sense of humor and is fun to be around. Those are the guys you’re hoping on day one will help break the ice, and he’s been one of those guys.”
Hafford will attend Husson University in the fall, and while he leaves the door slightly ajar for a future return to football his immediate focus is on preparing for a career in psychology spurred by his experiences with PTSD in the aftermath of his accident.
But for this week, at least, there’s one more comeback for Hafford to complete.
“There are people who are suffering from things far worse than I’ve gone through, things there are no coming back from,” he said. “But [the Shriners] give them as much as they possibly can, so for me the fundraising for this game was awesome and now I get a chance to play again.
“I’m enjoying every bit of it.”
