Sept. 15, 2015
Every Tuesday, the Nevada athletic communications department will post a feature story as part of its Wolf Pack Weekly series. These stories will provide fans with an inside look at the Wolf Pack, and will focus on athletes on the field, in the classroom or in the community.
By Chad Hartley
Associate AD, Communications
RENO, Nev. - As the second half wore on in the Nevada football team's 31-17 season-opening victory over UC Davis, a different sort of victory took place on the field for the Wolf Pack.
Jim Hofher, the wide receivers coach and assistant head coach for the Wolf Pack, turned and told Tucker Melcher to get into the game. Melcher did just that, and played the first of four plays in the game - the first plays of his collegiate career.
"I'll always remember it," said Melcher, a sophomore wide receiver. "It was a run play and I took off from the line and just went and blocked my assignment."
He'll always remember it because it was a play in career that almost didn't happen. Nearly a year and a half ago, Melcher laid in a hospital bed in a coma fighting for his life. A nagging sinus infection while on Spring Break in California spread to something much more serious. Teammate Brent Zuzo smartly drove Melcher back to Reno, where he was hospitalized immediately.
His fight for his life included seizures, partial paralysis and a medically induced coma over an 18-day hospitalization, chronicled well here in this Reno Gazette-Journal feature.
The road back has been a long one for Melcher, as he watched from the sidelines at practices and in games while working to get his strength back and his weight up. He went through spring drills with the team, his first time in pads in 15 months.
The walk-on from Galena High School in Reno had a good training camp with the team and saw that first collegiate playing time against the Aggies.
"Hearing Coach Hof call my name and getting in there, I couldn't really believe it was happening," Melcher said. "It was such a surreal moment. The statistics and the doctors said I'd never play again. But this has been my dream since the second grade. Whether it was one play or those four or who knows what's to come, I made it back."
It was a special moment for not only Melcher, but the entire Wolf Pack coaching staff.
"Watching the number 82 jersey run on the field was a special moment for all us," said offensive coordinator Nick Rolovich. "The last time I saw that jersey, it was laid over Tucker in the hospital bed about a year and a half ago. After watching Tucker fight back to what he is today, no one can ever count that kid out."
After the game, it was all smiles from his family, including his father, Bubba, a former Wolf Pack player himself.
"I got an earful from my mom for 10 minutes about how excited she was," Melcher said with a laugh. "My dad just said, 'You've been waiting for that for a long time - you looked good."
That play is a testament to the strength and drive of Melcher. It also symbolizes a milestone for the 6-foot-1, 190-pounder.
"It's just straight forward from here," he said. "I don't worry about just making it back. Now I just have to focus on getting faster and stronger and better footwork."
He's cracked the team's two-deep, listed as the backup "F" receiver behind junior Hasaan Henderson going into this week's game against Texas A&M.
"It's hard to put something that is so unbelievable like this into words," Melcher said. "Getting sick by some microscopic bacteria and almost having football taken from me, almost having my life taken from me. By the grace of God, I'm alive and back on the field with zero effects. It's something else."
Wolf Pack Weekly Archives
Aug. 25 - The Wolf of Wall Street
Sept. 1 - Germany's Wuensche welcomes new adventure in Silver State
Sept. 8 - Anderson continues family legacy at Nevada
