By Chris Foster
os Angeles Times
November 1, 2010
"Life is not fair."
Former quarterback John Hessler, in a slow, monotone voice honed in years of speech therapy, says that is the most important lesson he learned from Rick Neuheisel, who was his position coach at the University of Colorado.
The last seven years have reinforced the philosophy, from the moment in 2003 when Hessler's car was forced into the median on a Colorado highway during a hit-and-run accident that left him in a coma for 33 days.
Family, former teammates and coaches hovered at the hospital hoping for the best. Neuheisel, now UCLA's head coach, was among them, and he was typically relentless in his optimism.
"Just being in the room with him and holding his hand," Neuheisel recalled, "you could feel he was inside ready to come out."
The men will reunite this week in what has become an annual fall visit. Neuheisel has flown Hessler in for a football game every year since 2006.
This year, that game is Saturday, when UCLA plays Oregon State at the Rose Bowl. Hessler is coming out from his Northglenn, Colo., home and will be in Ontario in time for his son's birthday Thursday.
Life may not be fair, as Neuheisel told Hessler when he lost a quarterback competition to Koy Detmer in 1996, but it doesn't mean it's not worth living.
"He always told me that when things don't go your way, it's how you handle the adversity that shows what kind of player you are," Hessler said. "I have thought about that a lot over the years.
"What I'm dealing with is hard. How can I tell you in two words when it would take a million to explain?
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