Center Evan Mulrooney high-fives coach Randy Edsall during Maryland’s 50-21 win over Richmond on Sept. 5, 2015.
Before he got sick, Terrapins football center Evan Mulrooney had no idea there were five different types of hepatitis.
“I was tested for everything,” Mulrooney said. “Cancer. All the types of hepatitis. Did you know there was five hepatitises? Rocky Mountain [Spotted] Fever, all this crazy stuff. I’m a medical anomaly. They couldn’t quite crack my code.”
Diagnosed with an undetermined viral infection and hospitalized for a short period of time in August 2014, Mulrooney lost 20 pounds and said he didn’t feel like the same player. A season that Mulrooney thought was “going to be [his] year” came and went with just one appearance in the Terps’ 52-7 loss at Wisconsin on Oct. 25.
The senior knew he wouldn’t be handed playing time this year. He had to re-prove himself to a coaching staff that once viewed him as a potential starter. He began spring camp as the backup left guard before clawing back into the lineup as the Terps’ center.
After starting five games at center as a redshirt freshman in 2012, Mulrooney said the switch back to his natural position hasn’t been too difficult. Yet after coming back from a health scare, Mulrooney has newfound gratitude.
“It’s pretty surreal to me to be at the position that I’m at after last season,” Mulrooney said. “There were totally so many times where I was like, ‘I don’t know if I could this anymore.’”
Entering fall camp in August last year, Mulrooney — 6-foot-3 and 300 pounds — was expected to compete with left guard Silvano Altamirano for the starting job. He came down with a fever, but team doctors insisted that Mulrooney just needed to stay hydrated.
Mulrooney, however, thought something was up when he felt “super exhausted” during the Terps’ first practice. And when he had to end a jogging session with left guard Ryan Doyle to vomit, he knew he needed to return to the doctor.
When Mulrooney learned he needed to go the hospital, he looked at former center Sal Conaboy and broke into tears.
“I had worked so hard up to that point. It had really broke my heart,” Mulrooney said. “I thought this was going to be my year.”
Released from a Montgomery County hospital on Aug. 11, 2014, Mulrooney said he didn’t feel fully recovered until the season was over. Before returning to the campus for winter classes, Mulrooney spent some time with offensive lineman Stephen Grommer’s family in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and worked at their restaurant, Gerhards’ Café.
Between eating at the restaurant and working out, Mulrooney said, he regained his strength. Now, he just needed to prove himself to the coaching staff, and he wasn’t deterred when Doyle was named the starting left guard.
“I just went out every day saying, ‘I’m going to force them to play me this year,’” Mulrooney said. “‘Whether it be guard, tackle, center, shoot, tight end, I don’t care. I want to be the guy somewhere on this line. And I’m going to prove to these coaches that I could still play.’”
Though focused on earning a starting job, Mulrooney still took time to mentor some of the Terps’ younger linemen. Linebacker Jermaine Carter Jr. said he saw Mulrooney helping along redshirt freshman center Brendan Moore.
“Brendan made tremendous steps, but ultimately [Mulrooney] beat him out,” Carter said. “It just shows how serious he was about the game and getting back.”
When the Terps released their updated two-deep depth chart Aug. 28, Mulrooney was listed as the starting center over his mentee. Through four games, he’s been a key part of an offensive line that’s helped running back Brandon Ross rush for two 100-yard games and allowed just three sacks.
“I kind of always knew Evan was going to rebound,” Ross said. “I didn’t really notice him down too much because of his personality and everything.”
Mulrooney keeps a light mood when talking about his challenging past. He joked that he’s conscious of germs now, making sure to wipe the football with hand sanitizer after every play and refraining from kissing his teammates on the mouth.
But he’s also cognizant of his journey. A highly touted center out of high school, Mulrooney began his senior year faced with uncertainty. He’ll probably never know how he contracted the viral infection, but he can take solace in the fact that he didn’t let it end his career.
“I just wanted to show everyone like, ‘Hey, I’m still here,” Mulrooney said. “I want this more than I’ve ever wanted it.”
