MSU-N Game Day Feature: Don't Tell Him He Can't

There are some days that, no matter what happens in life, we will always remember. For Sam Mix, May 3, 2014, will be one of those days. Another will come this Saturday, when Mix returns to the football field for the first time since a horrific stabbing nearly took, not only his ability to play, but also his life.

That fateful night, when Mix was stabbed 45 times, his life changed forever. Yet Mix, who was told soon after the attack that he would never play football again, wasn't about to let it change his life, more than it had to. So against all odds and over the course of 15 months of surgeries, workouts, rehabilitation and everything else, Mix is back, and when the Montana State University-Northern Lights take the field against Rocky Mountain College Saturday at Blue Pony Stadium, Mix will be in the lineup.

"I remember the doctors basically telling me that," Mix said in reference to doctors saying he would no longer be able to play football. "I remember my mom sitting in the hospital room with me and just kind of having a feeling of disbelief. I have been through some hard things in my life and I have never had the mindset that it was the end of the road, so it was a tough day; it was a rough couple weeks; a rough couple of months.

"The whole thing obviously put me in a rough place for a couple months," He added."And hearing that news was a dagger, just another thing on top of it. But once I got past it and got past my own pity party, with the support of family, coaches, teammates and friends, I was able to gain confidence in myself and I was like, 'you know, the doctors said one thing, let's do another."

Despite dealing with numerous injuries, slashes and cuts to his arms, biceps, torso, hands and head, once he turned the corner mentally, the physical obstacles didn't matter anymore.

"I just put my all into it," Mix said. "I had a surgery on my bicep, to get my bicep tendon back, and it eventually started working again and is still in the process of getting back to 100 percent, but even without a bicep, I was ready to go. It was mind over matter at that point."

Mix's journey back to the football field started with him getting healthy. It continued with him getting back to school at MSU-Northern and finally rejoining the team for spring practice last March.

"The one thing about Sam, is that before all this, he was a pretty good player," Northern head coach Aaron Christensen said. "He played the year before I came here and he was one of our top receivers in my first spring ball here. After what he went through, he took a semester off and contacted us and we wanted him back. Of course, we didn't know what to expect and just kind of took it day-by-day, but you saw him lifting and it didn't seem to affect him too much. Then, you saw him playing and it didn't seem to affect him. It's like, he's the same guy that he was before, it's amazing."

"It's awesome to see him back," Northern tight end Bowe McKay added. "He's my inspiration on the field every single day."

Mix and McKay, who were roommates when they first came to Northern, knew of each other before committing to the Lights, since they both reside from the state of Washington. But, they quickly became close friends once they came to campus.

"We have been through it since day one," McKay said. "We were best friends in the dorms. We had been to camps together and we knew of each other and became friends because we were both from Washington in a new place. It sucked when he was gone, but we are happy to have him back on the field with us."

Before Mix was subjected to that terrible act of violence, he was one of the Lights' top wide receivers, in line for a starting position on last year's team. Now, a year later, despite all he's gone through, he finds himself in that same position, which he says, is due mostly, to his mental fortitude.

"It's hard, having someone tell you that you can't do something," Mix said. "Especially when it's someone like a doctor. But in a way, I feel like that made me stronger and with the mindset I had, I thought, if he said I can't do it and I can do it, then what can anyone else say about what I can't do?

"To see where he was and to see where he is at now," Christensen said. "It makes you realize that there are things bigger than football. And to see someone do that and go through everything that he has, you get a little emotional when you watch him and stop and think about it."

One of the best parts of Mix's comeback is the fact that when the Lights take the field against Rocky and he's among the first-team receivers, it will be because he earned it.

"It feels great to be a starter again and be out there with my boys," Mix said. "And actually, my last game was against Rocky and we went down there and got a win in the last game of my last season, so it's kind of cool that my first game back will be against them too."

Certainly, the Northern football team, which didn't win a game without Mix on the field last season, will definitely be working to try and get one Saturday, not just for their teammate, who has endured so much, but for themselves too. But a win in Mix's first game back would make his return to the field, even more memorable.

"It'd be huge if we could get a win," Mix said. "I know there are a lot of guys on this team starving for a win, me included."

However, no matter what the final score ends up being, the truth is, Mix will have won, the moment he steps onto the field for his first football game in nearly two years.

"It's going to be really cool for all of us," Christensen said. "But, it will even cooler for him. He's getting to do what he originally came here to do. You want him to be able to be a college kid, a college student, a football player and what he's been able to do, is really, just incredible."

The tale of Sam Mix is still in the process of being written. But this Saturday, he will achieve another milestone and although playing football may not sound like a big deal to some, in this instance it is.

Stepping onto the field Saturday will be more than symbolic for Mix, it will be another step -- another step towards healing and another step that puts even more distance between himself and the darkest chapter of his life.

And that step, which he will take with the overwhelming support of his family, his friends, his coaches, his teammates and his university, is one he can't wait to take.

"It will be super exciting," Mix said. "I'm sure it will probably be overwhelming, especially in the beginning, but once I settle in and the nerves settle down, I am just excited to have a helluva game, it's going to be fun."

It will also be the start of a new chapter for Mix, and, with football back in his life, the end of another.