Posted on October 5, 2022 at 3:54 pm CDT
Declan Duley of El Paso is thankful his parents will be able to see him play football at the University of Illinois next year.
It’s a bigger deal than you think. The mother of an El Paso-Gridley High School senior lost her sight last year.
In this edition of Beyond Sports, Duley describes the challenges his mother faced as he switched schools and became the top-ranked player in Illinois.
Duley said his mother, Becky, suffered a detached retina in her right eye last October while on a flight for Declan’s brother in Florida. She soon lost her vision in both eyes.
“When I came back from my college visit in November, I came home and the first thing she said was, ‘I can’t see you,'” Duley said. “It was pretty hard to deal with.”
Medical bills forced Declan to make a difficult decision. He transferred to El Paso-Gridley last winter after two and a half years at University High School in Normal. Duley said the move also kept him closer to home.
Duley now feels grateful for giving his mother sight in one eye.
“We take blessings from all this. It was hard on the family and it was hard on her to be blind, but even just one eye with sight was a miracle,” Duley said.
Duley said he credits all of his success to her and her father, Brian, for everything they did to accommodate his athletic endeavors.
“I can’t even imagine what she thought at first when I told her I wanted to quit swimming (the team) or quit soccer (to focus on soccer). Of course, she will support me in my decisions regardless of whether she thought it was right at the time,” he said.
It seems the move was the right one. Duley is the top-rated high school player in Illinois and one of the best in the country. Duley has received interest from a number of college football powers, including Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Oklahoma. Illinois and Troy offered scholarships.
Duley is also graduating high school a semester early to begin his college career and dreams of one day playing professionally.
“It’s a dream. I guess I haven’t hit the mark yet. The goal is to play in college and play in Division I. Now the dream is to play in the NFL,” Duley said.
Duley was late for the football game. He said he only started playing the sport in high school after a coach saw him kicking a soccer ball and suggested he try out for the team.
“He said, ‘Hey, why don’t you come over here and try to kick it?’ I did and got the extra point. He said ‘You are the best now’. I said ‘cute’.”
Duley said he feels part of a close-knit crew at EPG, despite being new to the school this year and playing a position that can be isolated. Duley handles all kicking duties for the Titans, which can lead to high-pressure moments on the field. Duley said his previous experience swimming nationally at age 10 helped train him to stay calm when the game was on the line.
“I’ve been swimming in front of thousands of people, it’s helped me tremendously,” said Duley, adding that Mike McCabe of the One on One Kicking Academy has also helped him with coaching. Duley took on a heavier workload at El Paso-Gridley this fall so he could graduate in December and start at University I next spring, where he hopes to adjust to college life sooner and get a head start in the competition for a starting job on the football team.
“I have a full schedule right now. It’s a bit stressful, but at the same time I’m managing and playing to keep my grades up,” he said.
