A Tale of Two Offseasons: Bonamego, players reflect on past two years
DETROIT - John Bonamego barely made it through a half hour of the 2015 Mid-American Conference Football Media Day. He got sick in the bathroom and the next day was under a feeding tube, battling tonsil cancer which was discovered in June.
At the 2016 MAC Football Media Day, Bonamego stayed the entire time after being cancer-free since November. He said the difference between last year and this year is "night and day."
"There were some challenging times," Bonamego said. "Physically, there’s not even any comparison right now in how I feel.”
Bonamego's cancer diagnosis was part of a 2015 offseason which saw the death of cornerback Derrick Nash, the dismissal of two-year starting cornerback Brandon Greer for kidnapping charges and the death of its lead team physician.
In 2016, the Chippewas dealt with the arrest of sophomore linebacker Malik Fountain and the death of former running back Zurlon Tipton.
2015
Nash passed away June 22, 2015 at age 20 following a battle with leukemia. Nash never appeared in a game for CMU.
As Nash lost his battle with cancer, Bonamego began his own fight. He announced last June that he was diagnosed with tonsil cancer. Throughout the summer, Bonamego would wake up at 4:30 a.m. to drive from Mount Pleasant to Ann Arbor for treatment, then return for practice later in the day.
Bonamego said there was a downhill slide from last year's MAC Football Media Day. He said waking up was like someone adding 10-pounds every day for eight weeks, and the way to recover was to remove those 10-pounds eight-to-nine weeks later.
“You don’t appreciate your health sometimes, as much as you do, when you don’t have it," Bonamego said. "Chemo and radiation is kind of like having a 16-week flu. It’s not a lot of fun.”
The second-year head coach stopped cancer treatments in August and led the Chippewas to a 7-5 regular season record. On Nov. 21, he announced he was cancer-free. Six days later, CMU topped Eastern Michigan to clinch a share of the Mid-American Conference West Division in his first season at the helm.
Senior quarterback Cooper Rush said Bonamego and Nash helped inspire their run to a share of the division championship, and is happy Bonamego will be healthier this season.
“With last season with Derrick and Coach Bono, it was about sticking to the plan," Rush said. "Coach Bono has always preached business as usual. It’s been like that this summer. It will be great in camp to have him healthy. We won’t have to see him tough it out. I think he’ll enjoy it a lot more and so will we.”
Former cornerback Brandon Greer was dismissed from the team in July 2015 after he was arrested for attempting to lure women into his car. Greer is currently serving nine months in jail for lying to a police officer.
In addition, lead team physician Dr. Jason Davenport passed away in June 2015.
CMU lost to Minnesota 21-14 in the Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field to finish the 2015 season with a 7-6 record. The Chippewas entered another offseason which again featured another player arrest and death.
2016
On April 7, sophomore linebacker Malik Fountain was arrested for allegedly assaulting a woman at Wayside Central on Dec. 2. Fountain was suspended from the team following the arrest, missing the team's spring game.
Two months later, Fountain was found not guilty on four assault charges and reinstated to the team. Bonmego said he spoke to Fountain and said he is in a good place and has been working hard.
Rush said Fountain has jumped back right into the team. Senior safety Tony Annese echoed his coach and teammate.
“I like Malik a lot," Annese said. "He’s a really good, young football player with a good head on his shoulders. I’m just happy for him and his family that he got through that situation.”
On June 28, former running back Zurlon Tipton died after accidentally shooting himself at a Roseville car dealership. Tipton had two guns in his duffel bag and one gun accidentally went off and shot him in the stomach when he removed the bag from his trunk.
During his 2009-13 career, Tipton rushed for a 2,463 yards on 461 carries and 34 touchdowns.
Rush and Annese both played with Tipton during their CMU careers. Rush's first season as a starter was Tipton's senior year in 2013.
"We have ultimate respect for Zurlon, one because of his work ethic and his ability and the energy he brought to the team was amazing," Rush said. "He was always out there having fun, talking and truly loved football. It was his number one love. It was very contagious.”
CMU will continue to rotate Nash's No. 21 jersey among the team each game. Bonamego said the team will discuss ways to honor Tipton this season in the coming weeks.
Annese said he is more comfortable with the coaching staff in its second season after learning a new system and dealing with the tragedies and distractions from a year ago.
"Life is precious and you realize football is just a game," Annese said. "At the end of the day, life is just never guaranteed and that’s what we learned throughout the process. You just got to take every day and be thankful every single day.”
Rush said the team has been focused on football this offseason, and that he has been training in Mount Pleasant with Director of Strength and Condition Jason Novak. Bonamego is pleased with his team's efforts this offseason, saying his freshmen group is better now than they were a season ago.
Bonamego, Rush and Annese all said despite the difficult two offseasons, the goal is to win a MAC Championship.
"It’s been a crazy experience up-and-down but I just feel like this year we’re a lot more comfortable with the coaching staff and we’re just ready to go," Annese said.
