Boston College Athletics
How Herzlich Resonates From BC Icon To ACC Football Honors Player
November 10, 2021 | Football, #ForBoston Files
From a strictly football standpoint, the 2010 Boston College season opening game against Weber State wasn't a remarkable moment in program history. The Eagles won, 38-20, in their only game against the FCS-level Wildcats, but neither team played particularly crisp. Quarterback Dave Shinskie lined up under the guard on the first offensive play and rushed a throw that was an interception, and while he eventually threw two touchdowns, his two picks were indicative of the offense's overall struggles in the first game.
The season itself wasn't the top-level iron for the Eagles, either. They lost five straight games and nearly went winless in October when they failed to score 20 points over four consecutive games. They were shutout, 19-0, by Virginia Tech and dropped back-to-back lopsided scores against Notre Dame and NC State before nearly defeating a nationally-ranked Florida State team, but it wasn't until a 16-10 win over Clemson on Halloween weekend that BC won a game in the middle month.
The win over the Tigers signaled a change, and the Eagles rallied to win five straight games down the stretch of the season with an undefeated November. They finished 7-5 and went to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, where they lost by a touchdown to Colin Kaepernick and the nationally-ranked Nevada Wolfpack.
It was an unremarkable season two years after the team's second straight trip to the ACC Championship Game, but that date against Weber State and that season meant something bigger and greater than anything in the Boston College program because that game - and that year - offered one last moment at No. 94, linebacker Mark Herzlich.
Herzlich had missed the entire 2009 season after doctors diagnosed him with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. He had been the 2008 ACC Defensive Player of the Year and wrestled with a decision of whether or not to enter the NFL Draft, but his senior season, the one that almost didn't happen had he turned pro, was completely derailed as cancer put him in a very different fight for his life.
That he beat cancer was inspirational, but his return to Alumni Stadium was a real and raw moment resonating long after he stopped wearing maroon and gold. This week, the ACC released its annual ACC Football Honors class, with Herzlich receiving the recognition as a former Boston College Eagle.
"He is as tough as nails on and off the field," BC head coach Jeff Hafley said. "From what he worked from and what he worked through off the field to come back and play, that's incredible. That's even more impressive than what he did on the field. I'm just happy that he's supportive, and I hope I can coach a bunch of guys like him. He deserves the award, and we're all really fired up for him to be a part of that."
Herzlich's award would have occurred even if the conversation was just about football. While his name doesn't rank atop any of the Boston College all-time tackle lists, he was the heart and soul of the team's defense in the late-2000s who was an immediate impact player upon his arrival in Chestnut Hill. He played as a true freshman at a time when one game invalidated a redshirt status and started all 13 games with 42 tackles before upping his numbers to just short of 100 the next year. He finally broke the century mark the next year when he had 110 tackles as a junior with 81 solo stops, six interceptions, eight PBUs, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries with 13 tackles-for-loss.
The conversation around him drove him from a mid-round draft steal to a potential first round selection after he earned both First Team All-America status from Rivals.com and Scouts.com and Third Team All-America status from the Associated Press. The ACC named him the Defensive Player of the Year, and he finished as a finalist for both the Butkus Trophy and a quarterfinalist for the Lott Trophy.
"He is what Boston College is all about," Hafley said. "He's a phenomenal human being, and he has this great intensity about him. He's a guy I would have loved to coach. He's all ball."
Herzlich's style of play and overall character endeared him to fans whenever he tackled through some unsuspecting ball carrier with his Ultimate Warrior-type facepaint, but his legend grew when he opted to return to BC for his senior year. He immediately installed BC into the conversation of the nation's elite defenses, and his play in the spring game did nothing to diminish the overall talk of his talent.
What was later discovered was an absolute gut punch, though. He played the spring game with pain in his legs, and the swelling never subsided well after he finished the contact sessions. He sought medical advice, and in May, he was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a bone cancer that impacts approximately one in one million people. It immediately sidelined him, and his 2009 season was lost forever.
Herzlich underwent treatment to defeat cancer, and BC rallied around him with its Beat Cancer t-shirt initiative. He remained a fixture on the sidelines as he held then-head coach Frank Spaziani's signature yellow towel, and he stayed involved by coaching up defensive players, including Luke Kuechly, his linebacker protege. After BC opened the season 3-1 and beat Wake Forest in overtime, ESPN celebrated Herzlich and his fight against cancer when it sent College GameDay to Chestnut Hill for its second-ever appearance.
It was there that Herzlich announced to the world that he was both cancer free and intending to return to football, and after additional treatments and surgery, he emerged from the BC tunnel as a football player on September 4, 2010 when the Eagles hosted Weber State. He played out that season alongside Kuechly and eventually entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent as a member of the New York Giants, with whom he won Super Bowl XLVI. After playing, he moved into an analyst's booth at the ACC Network, and this week, the legend on the field and icon off of it merged when the ACC listed him with players like Harry Douglas, Dan Marino and Jerricho Cotchery as this year's Football Honors class. To this day, he remains a face that almost everyone recognizes and associates with Boston College, and his appearances always take fans back to the moments where he intertwined so deeply with the history of the program that wins felt more richly deserved and losses didn't really seem to matter.
"Everyone knows what Mark went through and how he fought cancer and came out on top and continued to play," Hafley said. "I have had a lot of interactions with him, and he's been very supportive since the moment we got here [to BC]. He's called a bunch of our games [with the ACC Network], and we probably text every single week."
The Football Honors class will be honored during the ACC Football Honors show on Friday, December 3 and again during the on-field pregame festivities during the ACC Championship Game on Saturday, December 4. The ACC Football Honors Show will air on network television on the ACC Network on December 13 at 7 p.m.
The season itself wasn't the top-level iron for the Eagles, either. They lost five straight games and nearly went winless in October when they failed to score 20 points over four consecutive games. They were shutout, 19-0, by Virginia Tech and dropped back-to-back lopsided scores against Notre Dame and NC State before nearly defeating a nationally-ranked Florida State team, but it wasn't until a 16-10 win over Clemson on Halloween weekend that BC won a game in the middle month.
The win over the Tigers signaled a change, and the Eagles rallied to win five straight games down the stretch of the season with an undefeated November. They finished 7-5 and went to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, where they lost by a touchdown to Colin Kaepernick and the nationally-ranked Nevada Wolfpack.
It was an unremarkable season two years after the team's second straight trip to the ACC Championship Game, but that date against Weber State and that season meant something bigger and greater than anything in the Boston College program because that game - and that year - offered one last moment at No. 94, linebacker Mark Herzlich.
Herzlich had missed the entire 2009 season after doctors diagnosed him with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. He had been the 2008 ACC Defensive Player of the Year and wrestled with a decision of whether or not to enter the NFL Draft, but his senior season, the one that almost didn't happen had he turned pro, was completely derailed as cancer put him in a very different fight for his life.
That he beat cancer was inspirational, but his return to Alumni Stadium was a real and raw moment resonating long after he stopped wearing maroon and gold. This week, the ACC released its annual ACC Football Honors class, with Herzlich receiving the recognition as a former Boston College Eagle.
"He is as tough as nails on and off the field," BC head coach Jeff Hafley said. "From what he worked from and what he worked through off the field to come back and play, that's incredible. That's even more impressive than what he did on the field. I'm just happy that he's supportive, and I hope I can coach a bunch of guys like him. He deserves the award, and we're all really fired up for him to be a part of that."
Herzlich's award would have occurred even if the conversation was just about football. While his name doesn't rank atop any of the Boston College all-time tackle lists, he was the heart and soul of the team's defense in the late-2000s who was an immediate impact player upon his arrival in Chestnut Hill. He played as a true freshman at a time when one game invalidated a redshirt status and started all 13 games with 42 tackles before upping his numbers to just short of 100 the next year. He finally broke the century mark the next year when he had 110 tackles as a junior with 81 solo stops, six interceptions, eight PBUs, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries with 13 tackles-for-loss.
The conversation around him drove him from a mid-round draft steal to a potential first round selection after he earned both First Team All-America status from Rivals.com and Scouts.com and Third Team All-America status from the Associated Press. The ACC named him the Defensive Player of the Year, and he finished as a finalist for both the Butkus Trophy and a quarterfinalist for the Lott Trophy.
"He is what Boston College is all about," Hafley said. "He's a phenomenal human being, and he has this great intensity about him. He's a guy I would have loved to coach. He's all ball."
Herzlich's style of play and overall character endeared him to fans whenever he tackled through some unsuspecting ball carrier with his Ultimate Warrior-type facepaint, but his legend grew when he opted to return to BC for his senior year. He immediately installed BC into the conversation of the nation's elite defenses, and his play in the spring game did nothing to diminish the overall talk of his talent.
What was later discovered was an absolute gut punch, though. He played the spring game with pain in his legs, and the swelling never subsided well after he finished the contact sessions. He sought medical advice, and in May, he was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a bone cancer that impacts approximately one in one million people. It immediately sidelined him, and his 2009 season was lost forever.
Herzlich underwent treatment to defeat cancer, and BC rallied around him with its Beat Cancer t-shirt initiative. He remained a fixture on the sidelines as he held then-head coach Frank Spaziani's signature yellow towel, and he stayed involved by coaching up defensive players, including Luke Kuechly, his linebacker protege. After BC opened the season 3-1 and beat Wake Forest in overtime, ESPN celebrated Herzlich and his fight against cancer when it sent College GameDay to Chestnut Hill for its second-ever appearance.
It was there that Herzlich announced to the world that he was both cancer free and intending to return to football, and after additional treatments and surgery, he emerged from the BC tunnel as a football player on September 4, 2010 when the Eagles hosted Weber State. He played out that season alongside Kuechly and eventually entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent as a member of the New York Giants, with whom he won Super Bowl XLVI. After playing, he moved into an analyst's booth at the ACC Network, and this week, the legend on the field and icon off of it merged when the ACC listed him with players like Harry Douglas, Dan Marino and Jerricho Cotchery as this year's Football Honors class. To this day, he remains a face that almost everyone recognizes and associates with Boston College, and his appearances always take fans back to the moments where he intertwined so deeply with the history of the program that wins felt more richly deserved and losses didn't really seem to matter.
"Everyone knows what Mark went through and how he fought cancer and came out on top and continued to play," Hafley said. "I have had a lot of interactions with him, and he's been very supportive since the moment we got here [to BC]. He's called a bunch of our games [with the ACC Network], and we probably text every single week."
The Football Honors class will be honored during the ACC Football Honors show on Friday, December 3 and again during the on-field pregame festivities during the ACC Championship Game on Saturday, December 4. The ACC Football Honors Show will air on network television on the ACC Network on December 13 at 7 p.m.
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