The Arizona Wildcats learned last week just how precious life can be. They lost one of their own, senior offensive lineman Zach Hemmila, who died in his sleep of unknown causes.
One of Arizona’s assistant coaches, Jahmile Addae, faced his own mortality at a similar age. Addae collapsed during training camp with the Indianapolis Colts in August 2006.
Media reports at the time said Addae had become “lightheaded.” It turned out to be far more serious than that.
“I had something similar to a heart attack,” Addae, who coaches the Wildcats’ safeties, said after practice Monday. “That’s when I found out I had a heart issue called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.”
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a condition in which the heart muscle thickens, and it can cause cardiac arrest. Former NFL defensive end Gaines Adams had a similar disorder and died of cardiac arrest at age 26 in January 2010.
Addae got lucky. The Colts were training in Terre Haute, Indiana, at the time. The Terre Haute Heart Center was nearby.
“It was one of those things where I couldn’t have been in a better place than to be there,” Addae said. “If you’re going to have heart issues, you’d rather be across from one of the better heart institutes in the country.”
Addae, who went undrafted in ’06 despite a standout career at West Virginia, knew his football career was over when he heard the diagnosis.
“It was pretty crappy,” Addae said. “I just remember them saying, ‘You had something go wrong.’ That was pretty obvious — I was on a stretcher in the middle of a hospital with my helmet cut in half.”
Addae said his uniform and pads had to be cut open so doctors could apply monitors to his chest. It would be the last time he would wear them on a football field.
Soon after getting out of the hospital, Addae called Rich Rodriguez, who had coached him at West Virginia. Addae became a graduate assistant for the Mountaineers in 2007, the start of a coaching career in which he has worked for Rodriguez at multiple stops. Rodriguez promoted him from film analyst to safeties coach this past offseason.
Rodriguez always thought Addae would make a great coach, and the early reviews have been overwhelmingly positive.
“We have a great connection in that room,” sophomore safety Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles said. “We talk about a lot of things in that room. Sometimes we don’t talk about football. We talk about life.”
Addae, who’s married and has two sons, has to take some precautions. He wears a monitor for about a week every four months to measure his heart’s activity.
“The coaches mess with me, because I’m all wired up like a bionic man,” Addae said. “There’s no issues. I work out daily and have fun chasing these guys around.”
‘A little soft’
Rodriguez admonished his team after what he considered a subpar practice.
“It was the first time in camp that we looked a little soft,” Rodriguez said.
The Wildcats worked out in full pads, starting a little after 7 a.m., after having the day off Sunday. They practiced without pads or helmets at Fort Huachuca on Saturday.
Rodriguez said the events of last week, which began with Hemmila’s death, weren’t a valid excuse.
“It was a long week, and it was tragic,” Rodriguez said. “It should have no bearing on what today’s practice was or is, or what tomorrow’s will be.”
The team’s effort and focus generally hadn’t been an issue before Monday morning.
Extra points
- Rodriguez said freshman tackle Keenan Walker still isn’t part of the 105-player camp roster but is doing rehab work for an undisclosed injury. Walker also had an off-field incident last month.
- Receiver Tony Ellison, who missed most of last week (undisclosed), participated in the portion of practice open to the media.
- Offensive lineman Christian Boettcher remained in a green jersey (limited) and continued to deliver snaps, possibly indicating he’s part of the center mix.
- Defensive lineman Calvin Allen remained out because of an undisclosed injury.
- Defensive line coach Vince Amey said Justin Belknap has been the most pleasant surprise of camp among the D-linemen. Belknap is a walk-on who’s “running with the ones,” Amey said.
- Rodriguez says there’s no update on the eligibility status of receiver Zach Benjamin, who’s hoping to be able to play in 2016 after transferring from South Florida. Benjamin is paying his own way at the UA.
- Placekicker combatants Josh Pollack and Edgar Gastelum both made 3 of 4 field-goal attempts during the open portion of practice.
Several players lingered after practice to do extra stretching and/or drills.
- NFL scouts from the Eagles, Patriots and Giants attended practice.
