Max
07-01-2002, 10:08 AM
Thumbs up' NFL hero aids local fund-raiser
By Jenna Hunt, The Daily Reflector
The relationship between a local doctor and an injured NFL football player has led to a fund-raising event to help an area nonprofit program for children and fund research to find a cure for paralysis.
A dinner banquet started off the Dream America-Mike Utley Celebrity Golf Classic on Friday at the Hilton Greenville. The golf tournament starts today at Bradford Creek Golf Course.
Dream America is a new Greenville-based, nonprofit tutoring and mentor program for children. The program will benefit from a portion of the proceeds raised during first-ever golf tournament.
"Every kid deserves a chance to succeed," said Utley, who was paralyzed during an NFL game more than a decade ago and has become famous for his courage and the "thumbs up" gesture he gave while being carried off the field after his injury. He has served as a motivational speaker for hundreds of children's events since the injury.
Utley's fighting spirit has enabled him to regain the ability of his arms, hands and fingers and helped him lead an independent life full of adapted sports, strength training and the energy to lead his own foundation, he said.
His recovery has amazed the medical community and he said he plans to keep pushing to the next level until someday he will defy the odds and walk.
His motto is "tough times never last, tough people do," he said Friday night.
Utley has teamed with local physician Dr. Anton Usala to help research possibilities with cell regeneration to rebuild nerves and tissues damaged after spinal injuries. Usala owns Ectocelle, a new cell regeneration research company based in Greenville. He also is a part-time professor at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University in pediatric endocrinology.
"We think it's a great fit," Usala said of his partnership with Utley.
The golf classic proceeds also will benefit the research through the Mike Utley Foundation. Utley wants to fund research that will lead to functional improvements in people with spinal cord injuries. He hopes someday to find a cure through research that leads to successful clinical trials in neural repair or regrowth giving him and others the ability walk and run again, he said.
"The bottom line is to get appropriate research to find the cure for people with spinal injuries," Utley said. "We are looking for doctors and researchers who come together and work together for a cure for paralysis. We need to pull together."
Utley, 36, is a native and resident of Washington state. Utley's love of sports landed him a college scholarship and eventually launched him into a professional football career.
In 1989, he began his professional career for the Detroit Lions as a starting right guard. He suffered injuries in his first and second year before the career-ending injury in his third year. Utley broke his neck in a game against the Rams on Nov. 17, 1991.
His first major sporting event after the spinal cord injury was the annual Mike Utley Celebrity Golf Tournament at Desert Mountain Golf Club in Arizona, where helped raise more than $200,000 from 1992-1995. In July 2000, he started the annual Thumbs Up Bike Tour in Detroit.
He now lives with his wife and gym partner, Dani, in Wenatchee, Wash., where he enjoys all types of outdoor sports, he said. He is active in everything from skiing, boating, kayaking, scuba diving, to hand cycling, sky diving and hamming it up with golfers, he said.
Golf was never his preferred game, but he enjoys cheering his fellow golfers from the sidelines.
"I've been a winner all my life, and I'm not stopping now," he said. "I want Greenville to know that Mike is here. This event is going to be very productive."
Utley received a key to the city from Mayor Don Parrott on Friday.
Jenna Hunt can be contacted at jhunt@coxnews.com
Meet Mike Utley and other sports celebrities at Bradford Creek Golf Course today beginning at 8 a.m. with the tee-off of the Dream America-Mike Utley Celebrity Golf Classic.
The event also includes James "Bone Crusher" Smith, a former heavyweight champion of the world; Dee Hardison, a former NFL New York Giants football player; Dale Frye, a three-time world kick-boxing champion; Bill Clancy, a boxing referee; and Mike Utley of the NFL's Detroit Lions.
The Greenville Police Department will provide grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for the Dream America children and golfers at the event, officials said. The cost of the tournament is $65 per person or $250 per team of four limited to a total of 28 teams, according to program officials.
By Jenna Hunt, The Daily Reflector
The relationship between a local doctor and an injured NFL football player has led to a fund-raising event to help an area nonprofit program for children and fund research to find a cure for paralysis.
A dinner banquet started off the Dream America-Mike Utley Celebrity Golf Classic on Friday at the Hilton Greenville. The golf tournament starts today at Bradford Creek Golf Course.
Dream America is a new Greenville-based, nonprofit tutoring and mentor program for children. The program will benefit from a portion of the proceeds raised during first-ever golf tournament.
"Every kid deserves a chance to succeed," said Utley, who was paralyzed during an NFL game more than a decade ago and has become famous for his courage and the "thumbs up" gesture he gave while being carried off the field after his injury. He has served as a motivational speaker for hundreds of children's events since the injury.
Utley's fighting spirit has enabled him to regain the ability of his arms, hands and fingers and helped him lead an independent life full of adapted sports, strength training and the energy to lead his own foundation, he said.
His recovery has amazed the medical community and he said he plans to keep pushing to the next level until someday he will defy the odds and walk.
His motto is "tough times never last, tough people do," he said Friday night.
Utley has teamed with local physician Dr. Anton Usala to help research possibilities with cell regeneration to rebuild nerves and tissues damaged after spinal injuries. Usala owns Ectocelle, a new cell regeneration research company based in Greenville. He also is a part-time professor at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University in pediatric endocrinology.
"We think it's a great fit," Usala said of his partnership with Utley.
The golf classic proceeds also will benefit the research through the Mike Utley Foundation. Utley wants to fund research that will lead to functional improvements in people with spinal cord injuries. He hopes someday to find a cure through research that leads to successful clinical trials in neural repair or regrowth giving him and others the ability walk and run again, he said.
"The bottom line is to get appropriate research to find the cure for people with spinal injuries," Utley said. "We are looking for doctors and researchers who come together and work together for a cure for paralysis. We need to pull together."
Utley, 36, is a native and resident of Washington state. Utley's love of sports landed him a college scholarship and eventually launched him into a professional football career.
In 1989, he began his professional career for the Detroit Lions as a starting right guard. He suffered injuries in his first and second year before the career-ending injury in his third year. Utley broke his neck in a game against the Rams on Nov. 17, 1991.
His first major sporting event after the spinal cord injury was the annual Mike Utley Celebrity Golf Tournament at Desert Mountain Golf Club in Arizona, where helped raise more than $200,000 from 1992-1995. In July 2000, he started the annual Thumbs Up Bike Tour in Detroit.
He now lives with his wife and gym partner, Dani, in Wenatchee, Wash., where he enjoys all types of outdoor sports, he said. He is active in everything from skiing, boating, kayaking, scuba diving, to hand cycling, sky diving and hamming it up with golfers, he said.
Golf was never his preferred game, but he enjoys cheering his fellow golfers from the sidelines.
"I've been a winner all my life, and I'm not stopping now," he said. "I want Greenville to know that Mike is here. This event is going to be very productive."
Utley received a key to the city from Mayor Don Parrott on Friday.
Jenna Hunt can be contacted at jhunt@coxnews.com
Meet Mike Utley and other sports celebrities at Bradford Creek Golf Course today beginning at 8 a.m. with the tee-off of the Dream America-Mike Utley Celebrity Golf Classic.
The event also includes James "Bone Crusher" Smith, a former heavyweight champion of the world; Dee Hardison, a former NFL New York Giants football player; Dale Frye, a three-time world kick-boxing champion; Bill Clancy, a boxing referee; and Mike Utley of the NFL's Detroit Lions.
The Greenville Police Department will provide grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for the Dream America children and golfers at the event, officials said. The cost of the tournament is $65 per person or $250 per team of four limited to a total of 28 teams, according to program officials.