Local & State Headlines

ROCK and a hard place

• Sherwood Christian Academy football coach Ted Knapp was diagnosed with terminal cancer in May, but that has not stopped him from doing what he loves.

Derek Barichello

ALBANY - For each of the last 21 years of his life, Sherwood Christian coach Ted Knapp has roamed the sidelines of a high school football field every August. He dissects and corrects players. He’s the head coach. Yet, to the thousands of teenagers he’s molded into young men during his career, he’s simply known by his nickname: "Rock."

This August, he took to the sidelines again and hopes his second year with the Eagles can produce the program’s first winning season.

Only, this year is different. Much different.

At an imposing 6-feet, 240 pounds, his frame matches his nickname. The moniker may have come from people saying his speeches are like the legendary Knute Rockne’s, but nearly all his life, he stood large and spoke larger. He was a rock.

But this year, the "Rock" is forced to ride a golf cart at practice to stay mobile.

He still roams the field, only now during many afternoon workouts, he moans with every stride. He looks up as Eagles players stare at him from the sidelines.

Noticing their eyes he hides the pain with a smile.

"If I’m having a bad day, I don’t tell anyone," said the 51-year old Knapp.

In May, Rock was diagnosed with cancer. Two forms, both terminal, both incurable. According to his doctors, he has approximately 1 1/2 years to live.

But there he is, each day, leading practice.

"I do not like this disease invading any aspect of my life," said Rock, who undergoes chemotherapy treatment at least once a week. "So it does not invade my home, my football team or my teaching. I’m the same grouchy, get-after-’em guy that I would be if I had another 25 years to go."

Rock, who suffers from multiple myeloma (cancer of the plasma cells) and amyloidosis (abnormal protein counts produced by bone marrow), has a defeated immune system.

And doctors have warned him about coaching.

They tell him the dew gathered on grass could contain fungus and potentially trigger pneumonia.

If he’s illustrating to one of his players how to shed a block, and that player accidentally sneezes on him, it could break down his immune system.

And what if he’s accidentally run into on the sideline during the end of a play, or gets hit by an errant football at practice?

Any kind of blow, hypothetically, could kill him.

But there he is, each day, leading practice.

After announcing his condition to the team during spring workouts, and his plan to continue coaching, Rock made rules with his players in an effort to avoid some of the confrontations that could threaten his health. Nobody can play catch when he’s present. There is a three-foot rule of space needed when talking to him and a six-foot rule when the player is sick.

But Rock is a football coach. Inevitably, he breaks these rules in order to stay involved.

He bravely says he has no problem risking his life to do what he loves.

"There’s really no fear," said Knapp, who has five children, three girls and two boys, including 17-year-old Nile, a junior starting running back for the Eagles. "I’m not in denial. I am aware of the fact that I could go to (the doctor) this week and they could tell me, ’Coach, it’s not working. Your kidneys are failing. You are going to have dialysis tomorrow, get your stuff in order, you have six months (to live).’ "

But there he is, each day, leading practice.

Rock said all it takes is a ride on his golf cart from his house to the nearby school in the darkness of the early morning to remind him why he must continue to coach.

"Every morning I get up, the first thing I see is the sports complex, we built this to reach the next generation for Christ," Knapp says as pride fills his voice. "Then I pass the football field ...

"That’s when I get the reminder every day that I have a 17-year old son that I might not be around for. In two years, as his Dad, I’m going to do everything I can to be there for him so he can secure a college scholarship and go fulfill his dream to play college football."

"I mean, how can I leave that?"

As if struggling with his responsibility to his family wasn’t enough, his struggles on the football field don’t make life an easier.

He tries to hide them from his players and coaches, but he cannot hide them everyday.

It has become a common occurrence in the middle of practice, due to the chemo-therapy’s effect on his equilibrium, that he will lose his balance and fall over.

Sometimes it’s met with one of his players joking with him -- something Rock encourages to do to take the edge off -- and other times Rock just pulls himself up without much of a fuss.

Regardless, nobody is rushing to his aid.

"When he gets back up, nobody says, ’Aw, coach,’ because he’ll snap at you," Eagles offensive lineman Michael Accord said. "He doesn’t want to be treated like a cancer patient."

But he is one.

This past Wednesday of the opening week of the prep football season, Eagles players knew Rock will not be joining them until later.

He left after practice Tuesday to Jacksonville, Fla., for his weekly chemo-therapy treatment at the Mayo Clinic, where he started going this spring when he started experiencing headaches, fatigue and muscle fibrillations -- but he doesn’t want people to think about that. He wants them to focus on football.

None of this surprises those who know him best.

"He’s not going to be the type to just sit around and pity himself," Rock’s wife of 28 years, Shari, said. "He also understands the lesson he can teach about faith."

That’s exactly the example Rock is setting for his son Nile. His example flows through the entire family. Nile, who looks up to his father as his hero and shares that same love for football, has been motivated by Rock’s unyielding courage towards the cancer.

All the while, Nile cherishes every moment his dad watches him catch a pass, intercept a ball or bust through a block.

"My dad is tough," Nile said, showing signs of the same tough exterior as his father while he delivers the blanket statement. "I look up to him. It’s been motivating to see him do what he’s done."

That courage and fearlessness to fight the disease has inspired not only his family but others around him. Earlier this week, Accord said Knapp helped him accept Jesus Christ.

"That’s why I respect him," Accord said. "Someone else might’ve crawled into their room and lived, but he’s out here still doing what he loves.

"I mean, the man’s going to die."

Then again, everyone will. At some time or another.

And Rock’s fearlessness now breeds motivation.

"The one thing he preaches is that there is no fear in this," Eagles offensive line coach Shawn Baxley said. "Kids really draw from his strength."

And while Rock continues to use whatever time he has left to inspire those around him, he wants to keep his message clear. It was his senior year of high school when he found Christ, and coaching other young men toward Him is how he returns the favor.

"I hope, if anything, this is a demonstration of courage," he said. "That’s not putting a focus on Coach Knapp now but rather what the Lord can do working through Coach Knapp."

He was touched in high school by Maranatha Baptist Bible College coach Bob Rapson and spent four years there as his linebacker.

"At that time in my life I was invisible," he remembered. "I had no perspective on death or eternity."

Now Rock’s fearless battle has inspired not only his family and his team to see the power of his faith but members of the Sherwood Christian community and school as well. Though his nickname was coined from his speeches, it still serves as a metaphor for the foundation he has provided.

"His spirit has unified us," SCA athletic director Luke Bowers said. "He’s demonstrated how to be a spiritual leader."

This past Tuesday, however, Knapp returned from Mayo and could not feel his feet or his hands. They’ve both gone numb. He has nausea and fatigue. He’s down to just 15 percent kidney function. His muscles are cramping.

And just this past Friday, Sherwood’s season opener at home against Loganville Christian, the coach grew weak and tired at times during the 6-29 Eagles win which came down to the final seconds.

The excitement of the Eagles’ defense stopping Loganville on its final drive and holding on for the victory gave him the strength and courage to walk off the field with everyone else.

Even if he didn’t feel like everyone else.

"I’m pretty tired," Rock said. "More tired than I anticipated being. At halftime, I wondered if I was going to be able to do the second half. But I made it, and I’ll make it the next week and I’ll make it the following week and I’ll make it to the end of the season."

And there he’ll be, each day forward, leading practice.

"I’m like a tiger in a cage at Mayo," Rock said. "I’d much rather be at practice. It’s therapeutic. At least I know I’m where I need to be."