The University of Louisville has had some special football players come through the school from time to time, but one man in particular has definitely grabbed my attention now more than ever. You see, my Cousin Emily Harlan was involved in a serious car accident in Southwest Louisville on November 3rd of this year in which she was very lucky to survive. If you remember there was a light misty rain out, it was cool outside but not cold, but the mist conditions caused the road to be a little slick. Emily was traveling down East Pages Ln. off of Dixie hwy when her back tire slipped off of the road. As a young driver, this caused her to over correct into oncoming traffic. She was able to react quickly to avoid injuring anyone else and over corrected again, but this time she slid off the road and hit a telephone pole. The impact was on the driver-side door and was so forceful that it shattered her pelvis, broke her nose, and she lost consciousness. She had to be extracted from her car by the fire department, as there was no other way to get her out. Her pelvis had to be reconstructed, and now she has to wear a halo that protrudes out of her hip bone going from one side to the other. I like to think of her being a gangster angel that wears her halo not on her head, but around her waist.

via sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net



Emily is a very special teenager. She’s not like most teenagers as she is very intelligent, responsible, and helps her mother raise her younger siblings. Emily also lost her step-father which she was very close to a few years back, so Emily has been the rock to her mother whenever needed. Oh, one more thing, Emily was also diagnosed with Lupus, Raynauds Disease, and Rhumatoid Arthritis just last year. I can honestly say that at the age newly turned 18, she is probably one of the strongest and most inspirational women I know.

So, you may be asking yourself, "What the hell does this have to do with a Louisville football player?" Well you see, Emily also works at Texas Roadhouse. One of her co-workers was the great Greg Scruggs. As we know Greg is currently living the dream playing with the Seattle Seahawks. Once Greg heard about the accident, he made a small video featuring many of the Seahawks stars wishing Emily well. This speaks volumes about the young man of his character, and that just because he is still a big-time professional football player he still remembers his home, and those who are special in his life.

I don’t know if Greg will see this, but I want to thank Greg for the inspirational video he made for Emily as it means so much to her family words cannot express the appreciation they feel. So since we can’t think of something super spectacular to say, there are two words that hit the mark… Thank you. There are also two words that describe Greg and they are: Class Act!





