'Almost lost it all': Morton athlete's inspiring journey back to football after medical crisis

MORTON — Trae Zobrist is a football player again.

His is a journey that started in the darkness of unconsciousness on a weight room floor and became a shining bright story of a young man with true strength through faith, support from his family and lifelong friends, and a passion for the game.

"It was through that journey that I realized I almost lost it all," Zobrist said. "How close I was to losing my life."

The Morton High School senior has poured his heart into playing football for the varsity program long known as "The Hogs." He is a defensive back and receiver for Morton, and he was preparing for his final season when his life changed.

'A lot of it … I don't remember'

It was an April day, last spring, when the 5-foot-8, 150-pound Zobrist was in Morton head coach Adam O'Neill's weight training class. "I was standing behind the rack, spotting someone," he said. "I started to seize. A lot of it after that I don't remember."

Video monitoring the room showed Zobrist spin around twice and slowly sink to the floor. He was unconscious, suffering a Grand Mal seizure for what O'Neill said was about nine minutes. The coach and a nurse attended to the player, and O'Neill rode with a still unconscious Zobrist in an ambulance to OSF Medical Center.

"It was a really hard time after that," said Zobrist's mother, Erin, helping her son recount some of the details of his journey. "But the Lord turned it to a different thing.

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"Trae had complained of a headache. It turned into a Grand Mal seizure. Coach O'Neill and the school nurse were right with him, just fantastic. Coach stayed at his side for hours at the hospital, never left him."

They couldn't figure out what was wrong. In eighth grade, Zobrist fell out of a tree and suffered a concussion.A neurologist came in and said he'd had a brain bleed that had built up with scar tissue over the years.

He asked Trae Zobrist, "Do you play football?" Zobrist answered yes. The neurologist looked at him and said, "Not any more."

Growing up Zobrist

Zobrist is a third cousin to 2016 Chicago Cubs World Series MVP Ben Zobrist. He lives in Morton with mother, Erin, and father, Nick, who operates Zobrist Construction . He has several siblings, including an older brother, Cade , who ran track and cross country at Morton and was an all-state honoree in 2022.

Trae Zobrist grew up with a close group of friends, Rylan Tanner, Gideon Snyder, Cole Rinkenberger and Wade Leuchtenberg, all seniors with him on the football team now. They were always together, their families close as well.

"I have amazing relationships with our group of guys," Zobrist said. "We grew up together, been together since pre-school. I didn't initially want to play football, they kind of forced me into it when I was a freshman."

So when doctors told him in the immediate aftermath of his Grand Mal seizure that his football career was over, he was devastated. Not long after, O'Neill sent out an email, noting the team was opening a position for a manager this season.

Zobrist, comforted by his parents, cried as he grieved the end of his football days, and told them about the email.

"I think I have to do this," Zobrist said. "I have to be the one to fill it. When I was first told I couldn't play football again, my head went straight to thoughts of the team. I wanted to serve as a manager, help the trainers, help my teammates any way I could."

Said Erin Zobrist: "As parents, we were completely overwhelmed. We knew how special football was to Trae. It was heartbreaking to see him go through this. But I'm so proud of the man he's become."

A new test that changed everything

In April, after his seizure, doctors had Zobrist on a continuous EEG, where it showed multiple seizure activity and that he was prone to more. It was then that he was told he couldn't play football anymore, and then, in a selfless act, decided to serve his teammates as a manager.

But when he returned to see neurologists in June, he was again stunned. Another round of tests brought a different story. Maybe the first doctor was wrong. Or maybe prayers were answered. Either way, a new EEG and MRI showed something different. His seizure had not been caused by the after effects of a fall from a tree years earlier.

The cause was something that went even further back, that developed in utero. He had Gray Matter Heterotopia , a neurological disorder of the brain that triggers seizures and in nearly all cases indicates epilepsy.

"It wasn't until his second decade of life that it presented itself," Erin Zobrist said. "He is susceptible to have more of these. For two months, he dealt with not knowing what was going on. Doctors explained with this condition he could have a seizure just as easily walking across the street as playing football. So go play football.

"It's been a beautiful journey for him, a story of strength, faith."

He'll be on seizure meds the rest of his life. But Zobrist understands what that means.

"Trae grew up learning how to take care of his close friend, Gideon, watching him all the time, because Gideon had seizures," Erin Zobrist said. "Turns out they have the same brain condition. The same thing. Incredible. It helped Trae because he understood what it meant and what he had to do."

'Always a hog'

Trae Zobrist is a football player again. He never thought such a simple statement would have such a story behind it.

"He tasted heartbreak and loss in a pretty intense way, but has also known the Lord’s mercy, and that changes a person," his mother posted on social media earlier this season.

From tests to testament, Trae Zobrist has thrived ever since doctors cleared him to play again in mid-June.

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"He recovered from all that and plays defensive back for us," O'Neill said last month. "He's an amazing young man."

And Zobrist had an amazing weekend. He played in Morton's game against Pekin. He went to the school's homecoming dance. And he got baptized.

He says football brings him joy.

"Once a Hog," Zobrist said, "always a Hog."

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: 'Almost lost it all': Morton athlete's inspiring journey back to football after medical crisis