Tyson's journey concludes with state championship

Nick Tyson and his brother, Noel Kavanagh, found quiet and solace on the 50-yard line at Rutgers Stadium. While the Freehold Borough football team was celebrating its first state playoff championship, the brothers took time to reflect on the unlikely journey their family had taken in the last year.

ERIC SUCAR staff Freehold Borough quarterback Nick Tyson (right) shares a moment with his brother (and assistant coach) Noel Kavanagh after winning the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III title game against Middletown High School South at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway on Dec. 6. The Colonials won, 21-14, en route to their first state sectional title in school history. Tyson suffered a broken neck last fall while playing at Marlboro High School. Kavanagh was on the Mustang coaching staff and was there when his brother made a tackle and then couldn't get off the ground. Forget football, Tyson was fighting for his life.

Tyson had broken his C-5 vertebrae and the prognosis wasn't good. Against all odds, the injury healed itself (he was in a hard collar for months) and, against even further odds, doctors told him that there was no reason he couldn't play football again.

By the time he was able to get back on the football field, the family had moved to Freehold Borough and he had to blend in with new teammates. Taking nothing for granted, he earned the starting quarterback role. Soon, he and his teammates were on the path that would lead them to Rutgers for Saturday's NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III championship game and school history. With Tyson scoring a pair of touchdowns and accounting for 200 total yards, the Colonials beat Middletown South, 21-14, to capture the school's first playoff state championship. Tyson completed his storybook season winning Most Valuable Player honors.

As he and his brother kneeled on the 50- yard line soaking it all in, Tyson thought about how he had never given up hope that he would play football again.

"This is what dreams are made of," he said.

His brother, now an assistant coach for the Colonials' Mark Ciccotelli, thought of how the Tyson family had grown.

"God looked after us," said Kavanagh. "The amount of people who were so supportive. They became our family."

Tyson's decision to play football had been the subject of much debate in the household between him and his, parents Larry and Mary. When they decided to let him play (no defense this time), it began a season of roller-coaster emotions that would ultimately lead to a happy ending that even Hollywood would have trouble believing.

"To see the joy on his face was worth everything," said Larry Tyson.

He recalled the police and fire escort awaiting the team bus as it made its way through the borough to the high school.

"The town was ecstatic," he recalled, "Snow was coming down and the kids were hanging out the windows.

"It was the greatest thing," he added. "The town has really come together. They [team] will go down in history."

For Mary Tyson, there was sense of relief when it was all over.

"It was like a huge weight off us," she said. "It was a perfect ending to an unbelievable year.

"It was so nice to be a part of this team and realize how much of a team they are," she added "They looked after Nick. They took him in and let him grow as a player and let his confidence grow."

Prior to the game, Mary Tyson had left a letter on the refrigerator for both her sons. She figured it was better than an in-person pep talk.

"I wanted to say to them it doesn't matter whether you win or lose, go out and enjoy everything," she said. "Don't worry about the outcome."

Mary was pleased that both brothers could share the championship together.

"It was very emotional watching them out there [kneeling together on the field]," she said. "The injury made their bond 10 times stronger.

"The championship is something they have together," she added. "It's such a gift."

Now that it's over, Mary said, "I'm going to enjoy this."

She won't be alone.