Julio Bonilla’s Reviews > Who Says I Can't: The Astonishing Story of a Fearless Life > Status Update

You can care deeply about a young person without being a buddy. The friendship with its implications of equal footing comes later. I know this to be true, as I have friends who were once my teachers and coaches; I have friends whom I once coached. If I do my job, the relationship evolves and deepens. And my job is to be the adult in the room.

Humor can diffuse any situation.

🏉

I am a (profoundly) physically challenged man trying to make his way in a world defined by physicality. I am not talking about the world at large (although that's true as well) but the world of football. At the highest levels, football players are incredible athletes—spectacular physical specimens who have spent a lifetime....

I know, Dad. But money isn't everything.

I'm talking about something very specific. You've probably heard of phantom pain—the sensation of a severed limb sending signals to the brain long after it has been separated from the body. In my case, active nerves in my shoulders and lower buttocks communicating with my brain, and the resulting conversation can be surprisingly lively.

I took an immediate interest in the quarterback drills, in part because one of my friends, Chris, was a quarterback, but also because quarterback ws the glamour position. The quarterback was like the coach on the field, the guy who got all the attention in televised games, and the player who seemed to control all the action in Madden.
 

Never in my wildest dreams did I anticipate notoriety of any kind, as that wasn’t important to me. I wanted to be a coach, because football became my passion. I loved sports more than anything, and I believe that, somehow, maybe, they could provide an avenue to a meaningful life. 🏈

Let's get the technical stuff out of the way. I was born with tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare congenital disorder that prevents the formation of limbs during embryonic development. How rare? Extraordinarily rare.