Cliff Grassmick / Staff Photographer)
Imagine you are a student-athlete at the University of Colorado. Everything you've ever worked for has built toward this phase in your life, and everything you hope to become hinges on how the next four years of your career will play out.
Now imagine yourself going down during a game with an ACL tear, severe back spasms or a debilitating bulging disk in your lower lumbar. Everything that you've worked to achieve your entire life, all your goals for the rest of the season ...
Gone.
Injuries are an expected part of the athletic sphere, no matter what sport or at what level you play, but there's more than meets the eye with the effects that certain limitations can have on an athlete.