Editor's Note:  This is the fourth piece in a series of stories shared by Gorillas to Gorillas as we all embark upon this new "season" in our lives. These certainly are unprecedented times, for young and old alike. Our hope is for Gorilla student-athletes, past and present, coaches and members of Gorilla Nation to read these pieces, awaken their Gorilla memories and then compose their own story to share with us. There is strength in numbers.
  
One player, one choice.
 
I was so inspired earlier today to see Dan (Wilkes)'s article about being a Pitt State Gorilla, and how it has shaped his life and career. It made me remember my first trips to Pittsburg, visiting with coaches, and getting to see a spring scrimmage in the Jungle.
 
I came from a good high school, but only 1A, and I was used to consistently being one of the bigger guys on the field. After the spring scrimmage, I was standing with friends as the players were walking by. I turned to see 6'5, 285 lb. offensive tackle Jeff Mudhenke passing me, with his long hair and beard, and my first thought was, "What the hell am I doing here? I've got no business being here." In spite of these thoughts, I did sign with Pitt and came to camp that summer.
 
I was scared out of my mind. I had never really been away from home, and now I lived in another state trying to find a way to survive on the best team in the nation. I was helped by the fact that a high school friend of mine one year ahead of me had decided to switch to Pitt and he and I were roommates. This helped me relax a little for a while. Unfortunately, my friend quit and left early during camp, and that shook me up a little. I was not confident at all about earning a spot on the team, and was constantly questioning if I had made the right decision.
 
Finally, the first day of full pad practice arrives. I figured if I can make it through without completely screwing up, I'll probably be ok. In the huddle a few plays in, somebody notices my hand is bleeding. I raise it up and my left thumb at the base is completely split open. After (head athletic trainer) Al Ortolani called all of his students over for an impromptu anatomy class..."Look! See, here's a tendon!"… I go to the ER for 14 stitches and I'm not allowed contact until the stitches are out.  All I can do is jog around the field during each practice, which fat linemen love. That was it.
 
I was alone, I was injured, and I couldn't earn a spot on the team because I couldn't play. Everything pointed to this being a mistake. I was not meant to be here. This was not working out. I skipped an afternoon practice, packed my bags, and sat in Coach Broyles' office waiting for him to arrive after practice. I was there to quit. I didn't know how he would respond, but I was so miserable I didn't care.
 
Coach Broyles and Coach (Anton) Stewart came into the room quietly and each sat down. I braced myself for the worst. I knew 100% that if he started chewing me out, I was going to get up, leave, and never look back.
 
As a coach, it would be understandable for him to be angry with me for skipping practice. But that's not what happened. He talked to me. I told him about my frustration with my injury, my friend leaving, and how I couldn't prove my worth to the team being hurt. "Nothing is going right," I said. "You haven't given it enough time for things to go right," Coach said.
 
He convinced me to stay longer, and he moved me in with another guy who was struggling too. The reason being we had something in common, or we're both miserable whiners that we'll put together so they don't bum everyone else out. My new roommate was Shane Tafoya, who went on to be the two-time MIAA Defensive Player of the Year as well as an All-American. He and I both got in the starting lineup the third game that season and held the jobs for our careers. 
 
My opportunity and privilege of being a Gorilla is due to two people, my mom and Coach Broyles. My mom put me in the right situations to get to college, and Coach Broyles kept me in college by choosing to be kind that day in his office. If he didn't, I would have missed everything. Everything: the 1991 National Championship, all of the good times, all of the friends and teammates that I'm still close with today, being the first college graduate in my family. But also … if I don't get that degree when I do, and start working where I do when I do, I don't meet my wife who I've been with for 24 years. I don't have three kids, the oldest who will be a Gorilla this fall. Everything.
 
That one choice made all the difference to me in ways I'm still discovering to this day. I'm grateful that I've been able to share this with Coach Broyles and thank him in person many years ago. My life would be unrecognizable if he had handled it in any other way. It's almost too scary to think about … the power and ripple effect of one choice.
 
Chris Hanna
 
Chris Hanna earned All-MIAA honors in each of his four seasons as a defensive lineman for the Gorillas (1990-93) and garnered honorable mention All-America honors as a junior in 1992.  Because of these accomplishments, he was named as one of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame's Elite 11 in 2019. The Springfield, Mo., native currently resides in his hometown and works in the financial services industry. He and his wife, Tanya, have three children: a son Quintin (18) and daughters Taylor (14) and Addison (11).
 
Please share your own personal stories/thoughts via email to dwilkes@pittstate.edu. We want to share them! (PSU Athletics reserves the right to edit content for space and appropriateness. We cannot promise to publish every submission, but we will do our best.) Thanks Gorilla Nation!

Through the Eyes of a Gorilla Archives
Vol. I - Dan Wilkes, Associate AD/Communications (Apr. 3)
Vol. II - Levi Wyrick, Football/Track & Field Athlete (Apr. 7)
Vol. III - Amanda Davied, Women's Basketball Coach