Teen with autism wanting to get fit finds success on football field

From the Detroit Free Press:

He is the first player to be in uniform and the first to emerge from the locker room and onto the practice field.

As the players count off their calisthenics, he counts the loudest.

When equipment needs to be moved, he is the first to grab it and lug it to the other side of the field.

He is Marcel Green (pictured), No.73 on the Detroit Crockett High School football team, which is to play Orchard Lake St. Mary's Preparatory at 1 p.m. today in a Division 3 regional final.

And he has autism.

But above all, the 6-foot-2, 320-pound senior, who is classified as high-functioning, is special to his teammates, coaches and teachers.

Crockett's game against St. Mary's at Osborn High School in Detroit is one of 32 regional final prep football games being played across the state this weekend. The games reflect the best of high school sports in Michigan -- not only in athletics, but in camaraderie, sportsmanship, determination and team spirit.

And while Green may not see much action today when the Rockets play one of the biggest games in school history, he is already more than satisfied with football for two major reasons: "It takes discipline" and "I made a lot of friends."

Green didn't set out to be a football superstar. His reason for joining the football team was simple.

"It's just to get in shape for college," he told his parents when asking for permission to join the team. "This is a test of losing weight."

But it's what Marcel has gained, and given, that has exceeded everyone's wildest goals.

Marcel, a Crockett senior who was diagnosed with autism as a toddler, has a football lineage.

His father, Mark Green, and his older brother, Marcus Green, both played high school and college football.

And then there is his father's cousin, Anthony Adams, the former Detroit King High School all-stater who starred at Penn State and is a starting defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears.

"I don't really play like him," Marcel said. "I stand on the sidelines."

Yes, a majority of Marcel's time is spent on the sidelines, but he is very much a part of the Crockett team.

"Marcel is kind of special," said senior Tony Lippett, Crockett's outstanding quarterback/defensive back who committed to Michigan State. "He's been out here since I've been here. He doesn't play a lot, but he stays out here and competes. He keeps the sidelines going.

"He is the spirit of the team."

This is not a story about the student manager who the coach slaps a uniform on for the final game.

Marcel, who is classified as high-functioning, is very much a football player.

"I play both offense and defense," he said, proudly. "On offense, I play offensive tackle and offensive guard. On defense, I play tackle.

"I get reps in practice. I play during blowouts."

And he is at every practice.

"He goes through everything just like every other Crockett football player we have out here," assistant coach Marcus Lewis said. "He's a great team guy. He gets guys motivated. He's definitely not the team manager. He gets field time."

Something was wrong

For the most part, Marcel was a typical baby, but his parents suspected something was wrong when he was 3 years old.

"We knew he should have been more vocal," said his father, Mark. "Everything else was normal. He was walking when he was 8 months. It wasn't very hard to potty train him. Everything else was on schedule; it was just the vocal part. We just knew something was going on."

The Greens were blindsided when Marcel was diagnosed with autism.

"You go through so many emotions: 'What did we do wrong?' " his father said. "Once we came to grips with it, we said, 'What better parents to put him with than us?'

"If the Lord saw fit to put him with us, this is what we're supposed to deal with. And when you look back, there wasn't a whole lot we had to deal with. We never had to put him on medication. We just prayed."

The Greens also enrolled him at the Foundation for Exceptional Children in Grosse Pointe Farms.

"We always wanted to mainstream him, but we had reservations," Mark said. "It wasn't so much him; it's the other people he has to deal with. You know how kids are, kids are mean. We knew he could function, but at the same time we understood what he was going to have to go through."

Marcel has a grade-point average of more than 3.0 and hopes to go to college. And Crockett teacher Miriam Dzandu said she believes that is an attainable goal.

"He's a sharp young man, he really is," Dzandu said. "I've had him throughout his years here for some of his different classes and he's definitely one of our high performers.

"With the proper support -- and he has a really strong family support system at home -- he can honestly do anything he wants to do."

One of Marcel's special skills is music. He could play the piano well, long before he took lessons. As a freshman, he entered Crockett's talent show. He sang a Chris Brown song, and by accounts, he rocked the joint.

"After that, Marcel was a new person," said Marcus Green, his brother. "He liked that rush he got from being involved in something."

Football seemed like a natural for Marcel because he had been around it all his life.

The trick was convincing his parents that getting into shape and losing weight were good enough reasons to play.

"I had my doubts about it," his mother, Katheryn Green, said. "But of course I wanted him to play for the exercise part of it, to get him out of the house to have some kind of activity going as opposed to just playing the keyboard. I pretty much was for it."

Marcel's father, a football coach for many years, wanted to be certain his son was prepared for what the daily practices would be like.

"We said we'd support him, but I told him the same thing I told Marcus: 'You sure you're ready for all that running?' " his father said. "He wasn't a kid who liked to do all that exercising."

But the sophomore did it. Every bit of it.

"It was kind of tough to run the stairs," Marcel said. "It didn't really matter if I was last or not."

Crockett coach Rod Oden and his players took care of the rest.

"He's a kid that was introverted and football has brought him out of his shell, and academically he has excelled," Oden said. "You don't have to be the prototypical student-athlete. We take guys from all walks of life and we'll find a way for them to be a part of our program."

Crockett has several students with autism, and Principal Deborah Hurst marvels at the way other students have welcomed them into their activities, the way Lippett has done with Marcel and football.

"I'm not surprised by Tony's relationship with Marcel," Hurst said. "All the kids look up to Tony and he's a good role model. Tony's the big man on campus here, but I find that there's so much support with the kids for each other. These kids protect each other."

Marcus Green is pleased that Marcel is viewed as just one of the guys.

"There's no reason to treat him any different," Marcus said. "He's a regular person like anybody else."

Marcel has found the coach to be an inspiration to him and his teammates.

"Coach Oden is like a father to the team," Marcel said. "He makes us hard-working. He likes us to reach to the top."

With a victory over St. Mary's Preparatory in Orchard Lake in their regional final game at Osborn High School in Detroit at 1 p.m. today, Crockett would be just three wins from reaching the top -- a state championship.

No matter the outcome, playing for Crockett will have provided a lifetime of memories for a special young man.

"I made a lot of friends," Marcel said. "Tony Lippett is a friend. He's like a brother to me."

Lippett has no misgivings about referring to Marcel as a brother, too.

"He's enthusiastic out here and he doesn't have to be," said Lippett. "He could have quit because he doesn't play much, but he's enthusiastic. He motivates the whole team. He made me want to get better and be better. That's why I say he's my brother."

It turns out that Marcel Green is one of many special players at Crockett.