His Passion Hides His Pain

Jeff Sims
Wednesday May 2, 2007

It was certainly a rough four day stretch for Chicago Rush head coach Mike Hohensee. Last Friday, Hohensee was struck by a car while he was walking in a grocery store parking lot near his home.

He sustained minor injuries and was released from the hospital after undergoing multiple tests.

Not sure if he would be able to coach on Monday night against Philadelphia, the Rush organization left the decision up to their head coach. 

“The decision was completely up to him whether or not he wanted to (coach this game),” said Rush General Manager Mike Polisky. “We care about him more as an individual much more so than as a coach and the priority was that he was going to be okay.”

You just knew that he couldn’t stay away!

“I’ll be way up. I have great seats,” said Hohensee in a press conference prior to Monday night’s game. “I’ll still be on the headset and can still call the plays that need to be called.”

In a sign of unity, appreciation, and respect, the entire team got together at the five yard line prior to kickoff and saluted their head coach. There he was, up in a skybox, blocked away from any other distractions, his neck in a brace and his left arm in a sling, prepared to do what he does best; coach his football team. 

“My mind is still clear,” said Hohensee. “Everyone has to deal with pain. I was here for the first two days of preparation so I know what’s going on and I know what the game plan is and I just wanted to make sure that they understood that I was okay. I didn’t want to go another day without them seeing me and wondering.”

“It’s game day. There’s nowhere else in the world to be.”

You could tell that as much as he loves the game and wanted to be there for himself, there was a whole another purpose behind Mike Hohensee being at the Allstate Arena on Monday night.

“I owe it to my football team,” said Hohensee. “We’ve got something special going on here. It’s a special group and I’m honored to be a part of it. And I didn’t want to miss it. This is our first opportunity on the national stage on Monday night. It is about (the team) and the accomplishments that they have achieved so far.”

The team did not look particularly special to start the game on Monday night. QB Matt D’Orazio was under constant pressure from the Philadelphia Soul defense and the team as a whole made mistakes they do not usually make. There were balls thrown away, passes dropped, poor pass protection, and some difficulty in communicating with the coach who was three stories above the field who could not provide the “in your face” spark that their head coach usually provides.

“I think not having him as our rock on the sidelines took us a while to get into our groove,” said Rush LB John Moyer. “Obviously, not having him on our sideline was a factor.”

Without their leader in front of them, the Rush found a way late in the game to pull out a special victory that they desperately wanted for their hurting coach.

The defense kept them in the game giving up just nine points to the Soul the entire second half. With 3:17 remaining and trailing 43-41, Moyer tipped a pass from Soul QB Justin Wood. The ball deflected off the helmet of DL Curtis Eason and was intercepted by Moyer who returned it 39 yards for a touchdown.

Those watching on ESPN2 and anyone paying attention in the Allstate Arena could see the emotion as Hohensee was seen cheering as if he were a die-hard fan.

The team sealed the 54 – 43 victory when D’Orazio hit WR Bobby Sippio for a 33-yard touchdown pass with 39 seconds remaining.

You hear many people throughout the sports world talk about the “agony of defeat”. In this case for Hohensee, victory came with a little agony of its own.

“I’m in more pain now than I was when I got to the building,” he said at the post game press conference. “You just don’t realize how emotional you get. I’m glad I wasn’t in (the coach’s) box because I would have hurt myself down there. You get emotional, you tense up, and you’re like a fan. When you coach the right way, you’re rooting for your players. I was rooting for our players.”

And it certainly showed in his passion for what he had just seen and been a part of. 

For those who called this an “ugly win” for the Rush, talk to “Coach Ho” and you will get a completely different perspective; one that will certainly bring you back to reality and make you appreciate what had just taken place.

“I’ve seen ugly the last couple of days,” said Hohensee. “Tonight was a thing of beauty right there. That was a team that found themselves and found a way to win.”