Eric LeGrand still inspiring, way beyond sports. 'He's a signal of hope'

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- In January 2014, shortly after Mike Nichols suffered a broken neck while playing ice hockey for Monroe High School, Eric LeGrand visited him in the hospital.

“I don’t remember much (from that period), but I remember two things,” Nichols said Friday. “When my uncle brought money because I won a Super Bowl pool, and when Eric came to see me. He was telling me, ‘You’re going to have a life -- you’re going to have a good life.’ I try to follow in his tracks every day.”

Nichols, who has regained full use of his upper body after years of painstaking therapy, went on to attend Rutgers and now works on the staff at Monroe. LeGrand’s influence has helped him get this far. It’s helped plenty of others, too.

“He’s a signal of hope, and not just in the sports community,” Nichols said. “I’ve had students at my school ask if I know Eric LeGrand. His reach goes way beyond sports.”

LeGrand is a Rutgers man, of course, and he is rightly hailed by his alma mater as a favorite son. But the courage and resilience he’s shown since breaking his neck on the field in 2010 have influenced folks everywhere, in all walks of life.

On Friday, he was inducted into Rutgers Athletics’ Hall of Fame. On Saturday, he led the crowd in the R-U chant during halftime of the Scarlet Knights’ 31-13 loss to 11th-ranked Michigan State. It was the big bright spot of a brutal day for the home team.

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We could fixate on Rutgers’ porous defense, which gave up four touchdowns of 60-plus yards — something straight out of a mismatched high school game.

We could dwell on the fact that, with a bowl bid still in reach, an embarrassing amount of Rutgers fans quit on this team. The stadium was more than half-empty, on homecoming no less. The weather was good, the opponent was ranked, and there were 15,000 fans present at kickoff. At the peak, the 52,000 stadium had maybe 24,000 bodies in it — more than 2,000 clad in Spartans’ green.

Instead, let’s take a moment to appreciate LeGrand and absorb the valuable lesson he tirelessly preaches wherever he goes: Be grateful.

“Watching the crowd, just taking this all in, I’m just so thankful,” he said after the halftime ceremony. “I appreciate all that goes into this.”

Brandon Hall knows it well. Hall, an assistant coach with Fairleigh Dickinson men’s basketball, is one of LeGrand’s best friends. They grew up together, were both standouts at Colonia High School, and Hall was by his side the day of the injury, which left LeGrand paralyzed from the neck down.

“The kid had a chance to play on Sundays, he had everything taken away from him at the snap of a finger, and his only concern is inspiring other people and making sure everybody else is good,” Hall said.

Wherever Hall has coached — Colonia High, Seton Hall University, and now FDU —LeGrand has spoken to the players. Hall doesn’t even ask him. LeGrand insists on doing it.

“His message is always the same: “Don’t take anything you have right now for granted,” Hall said. “To see how he handles things, how can you ever complain? If he doesn’t have a bad day, how can you have one?”

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano has treated him like a son. LeGrand hasn’t spoken to this year’s Scarlet Knights yet. It certainly couldn’t hurt. This season's already been dented by the suspension of two players, including top cornerback Max Melton, for shooting paintballs at fellow students. Rutgers' Melton-less secondary got blowtorched Saturday. 

It's up to Schiano to decide whether his players need a jolt of perspective.

“His positive outlook on life, even though he’s been dealt the worst hand you could imagine, that just says everything to me," Schiano said Saturday. “He’s a great inspiration to a lot of people.”

Schiano said he'll probably have LeGrand speak at some point. Eric will tell them what he tells everyone. 

“Live life to the fullest,” he said. “Work your butt off for what you want, have good attitude and appreciate what you do have.”

Those words aren’t just for athletes. They’re for everyone.

Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.