FARGO - When tickets for the North Dakota State at University of Minnesota football game went on sale in August, the parents, grandparents, relatives and friends of Zach Vraa were on their computers waiting for the first second the website went active.
But when the game kicks off Sept. 24 at TCF Bank Stadium, the Vraa family will only be able to watch Zach standing around wearing an arm sling. The freshman receiver suffered his injury in the first game of the season against Lafayette College (Pa.) and will miss one of the biggest games of the year for him.
"It's obviously a really important game for me," he said, "so if we could come out with a win, that would mean a lot."
Vraa was Minnesota's Mr. Football at Rosemount High School, a suburb located south of the Twin Cities. He was offered a scholarship by Air Force and a walk-on opportunity with the Gophers, but not the scholarship most metro kids hope for. So he came to NDSU and redshirted his first year because of the same injury, only different shoulder. At the time that happened, he was in the mix to play as a true freshman.
The injuries came on almost identical plays. Last year, he dove for a ball in practice and came up lame on his right shoulder. Against Lafayette, he made a diving grab in the first half, but bounced up and went back to the huddle like nothing happened.
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At that point, he didn't think anything did.
"I came out the next play and knew something was wrong, but didn't know exactly what because I had so much adrenalin going," Vraa said. "The next play, I went in and had to block and when I made contact, my arm just went limp."
The common healing time for a collarbone is about eight weeks, but NDSU quarterback Brock Jensen beat those odds last year when he returned to the field after about five weeks. Vraa is hoping for the same, and he's even trying to mimic what Jensen did.
"He said he drank a lot of milk and ate a lot of cheese, so I'm trying to do the same," Vraa said.
The hope, Vraa said, is to get back on the field toward the end of the season.
Asked if he would consider taking a medical hardship if the shoulder doesn't come around in time, he said he didn't know.
"I really want to heal fast and come back for the end of the season and playoffs," he said. "That's what I'm hoping for. I can't really feel sorry for myself. Everything happens for a reason, although I'm not sure what this particular reason is. But I have to look at it in a positive way and hopefully come back stronger when I do come back."
Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack can be reached at (701) 241-5546.
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Kolpack's NDSU media blog can be found
