Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

October 5, 2012

For UMaine senior, it's still worth putting up with pain

Kris Enslen plans to give it his all right up until the end of his football career, even if it hurts.

By Glenn Jordan gjordan@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

ORONO - Kris Enslen won't lie. He thought seriously about hanging it up this summer, calling it quits on a collegiate football career that had become a literal grind, a bone against scar tissue grind inside a knee that twice required surgical repair.

"I was just like, 'I don't know if I'm going to make it,'" said Enslen, a fifth-year senior defensive lineman at the University of Maine.

He thought of his friends back home in Delaware, of buddies who played college football at Western New England, Shippensburg and West Chester. Their careers ended early, and not by their choosing.

"I just see the pain in their eyes when they told me," Enslen said, "or in their voices when they called me on the phone and told me."

That emotional pain, it turns out, is worse than the physical ache Enslen must endure to keep playing his chosen sport, the sport he has played for the past 15 years, since he was 7.

"The doctor told me," Enslen said, "'You CAN play on this. It's not going to be fun, but you can do it. But you're not going to take 60 reps a game. It's not possible.'"

A career that started with such promise at Maine -- taking over for Jovan Belcher, now with the Kansas City Chiefs; making eight tackles in his first start in 2009 and 25 in his first five games -- is now winding down, with Enslen still contributing but in a limited role. Through four games, he has two solo tackles, six assists and one of Maine's five quarterback sacks.

He'll return to his home state Saturday as the Black Bears visit the University of Delaware. Maine is 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association. Delaware, ranked 16th in the nation, is 4-1 and 1-1.

"I'm going to have a lot of people there," said Enslen, who hails from Middletown, Del. "That stadium is awesome. A lot of my family hasn't seen me play since high school, and they get to see me play in a college setting in front of 22,000 people. It's pretty cool."

What they'll see Saturday is Enslen on the field for about half of Maine's defensive plays. He rotates through the defensive line with Matt Pellerin, Matt Wilson and David Toriola.

"Obviously, we use (Enslen) as much as we can," said defensive line coach Dennis Dottin-Carter. "He's a senior. He's a leader for us out there."

Head Coach Jack Cosgrove sees Enslen as a disrupter, batting down passes (as was the case in the Boston College game) and collapsing the pocket on a quarterback. Cosgrove also sees Enslen as an example for younger players or anyone rehabilitating after an injury, dutifully getting treatment in the training room.

"That's kind of a thankless commitment, and it's monotonous, too," Cosgrove said. "I walk in there and very rarely do I not see him at one point, either morning or afternoon. I'm very impressed with how he's managed himself."

It was three years ago Wednesday -- Enslen remembers the Oct. 3 date vividly -- in the fourth quarter of a game in Orono against Delaware that Enslen first injured his left knee. A fourth-down play near the goal line. A double-team block, followed by a running back whose helmet flew off. A moving pile, a referee's whistle, Enslen's ankles getting caught beneath him as both knees bent backward.

"I got up and it was like, 'That was weird,'" he said.

Enslen ran to the sideline, had the knee checked and was cleared to return to the game, which he did on Delaware's next possession. He felt fine for two plays, even chasing down a back to make a tackle after a short pass reception, but in sprinting to cover a receiver on the next play, his leg gave way and he hit the turf as if felled by an ax.

(Continued on page 2)

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