Cardinal Mooney quarterback overcomes adversity for historic state title

SARASOTA, Fla. - When the members of the Cardinal Mooney High School football team walked off the field as state champions last week, there might have been no one happier than senior quarterback Michael Valentino.

"Everyone loves being around him," said Cougars Head Coach Jared Clark. "He is a charismatic dude. I wish I got to play football with him."

Michael transferred to Cardinal Mooney for his senior year, but just three games into the season, disaster struck. 

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"We didn't know at the time how severe it was," Clark said. 

While running for a first down, Michael was hit simultaneously by two defenders in his torso. Michael knew something was wrong almost immediately. 

"Jogging back to the sidelines, I felt my ribs moving, but I thought maybe I just cracked one. I didn't know the severity of it," Michael remembers thinking at the time. 

While the Cougars' quarterback remained on the sidelines for the rest of the game, a trip to the emergency room later revealed the extent of his injuries. 

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"I found out it was four broken ribs and a collapsed lung," said Michael. "It was way worse than I thought."

Michael was then rushed to the intensive care unit and prepped for emergency surgery. For the next week, Michael lay in a hospital bed while his left lung and his ribs began to heal and was told it would take him six months to recover. 

"We thought it was over, at that point, for the rest of the year," Clark said. 

Michael, however, wasn't so that he had played his last snaps of high school football. 

"He said 'Coach, I'm coming back for the playoffs,'" Clark said. "From day one, [he] said he was coming back."

That is when the road to recovery began. And recover, Michael did. 

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"As soon as I had any hope at all of coming back, I was just excited," Michael said.

In total, it would take Michael Valentino just six weeks of rehab to recover enough to be medically cleared to return to his teammates. 

"It was amazing. I was just happy," said Michael.

And just 10 weeks after Michael needed to have a tube inserted into his left lung to stabilize it, there he was, playing for a state championship in Tallahassee. 

"That was a blessing in disguise," Michael explains. "I really shouldn't have been out here playing at all. But we [are] here now, so I should be excited. I felt lucky."

Luck, however, had nothing to do with the final play of Michael's high school career. 

With under a minute to play, and trailing Trinity Catholic by three points, Michael Valentino would throw what would be the game-winning touchdown to deliver Cardinal Mooney its first state title since 1970. 

"Looking back, it all worked out," Michael said.

And though the scars of Michael's injuries remain, the quarterback is determined not to let his injury take any more time away from his football career as he pursues the opportunity to play at the next level.