G.I.'s Tomlin returns to gridiron

Mike Tomlin knew right away.

He felt the pain. He heard the pop. He knew that his senior football season was coming to an ugly end in early September instead of in November.

There would be no 1,000-yard rushing season as he had hoped for. There would be no more games played for his father, Grand Island Senior High coach Jeff Tomlin.

On an early September night last fall, the Islanders' offense/defense/special team standout tore his ACL in the third game of the season at Millard North. The injury came on only the second play of the game.

"I was playing safety, and someone crashed into me and popped it," Tomlin said.

While the Islanders went on to post a successful 8-3 season, Tomlin was no longer an on-the-field part of it.

"It was the toughest fall," he said. "All I could do was sit on the sidelines and support the team."

But this week Tomlin gets one more opportunity to experience something that the injury took away. He is a part of the North team for Saturday's Shrine Bowl at Memorial Stadium.

The head coach of the North is a familiar face -- his father.

"This means a lot to me," Mike Tomlin said. "I won't get to play for him again after this. This is special."

Jeff Tomlin also appreciates the special opportunity. It's not often that the stars align to where a coach is named the head coach of the Shrine Bowl the same year that his son is a senior and deserves to be named to the all-star classic.

"It's once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Jeff Tomlin, who played in the Shrine Bowl in 1984 and was an assistant in 1999. "It's real special. It probably hasn't happened real often. I haven't looked back to see, but I don't imagine it's too common.

"I'll definitely enjoy every single day of camp and one last chance to coach him."

Also relishing the chance to be on the North with Mike Tomlin is his Islander teammate Dalton Ryba, who is a lineman.

"It was unfortunate to see his season ended that way," Ryba said. "It was pretty heartbreaking for the entire team. But we had to strap up for one of our best buddies and tried to keep positive."

As a junior, Mike Tomlin rushed for 600 yards and caught six passes for 45 yards. He had 51 tackles and one interception.

This fall he will go to Chadron State where he will both play football and run track.

"This will definitely get me into football shape (for the fall)," said Mike Tomlin of the Shrine Bowl practices.

And he might be enjoying those practices a little more than the rest of his teammates.

"It felt a lot better than I thought it would," he said of putting on the pads and helmet again. "I missed it even more than I thought. It felt good to see what I can do."

The 5-foot-7, 160-pound speedster hopes that his comeback includes making an impact in the Shrine Bowl.

"I hope to score some touchdowns," he said. "I'm playing wide receiver and defensive back, so it'd be fun to get one on a pick."

Mike Tomlin knows this July evening will hold good memories that he'll never want to forget.

E-mail Dale Miller