Overcoming the odds

LCA football player battles more than just other players under the lights

For Dylan Cumbo, a football player for Liberty Christian Academy (LCA), the pressure and expectations that come with playing football under the lights on Friday nights are not the biggest challenge he has to face when he laces up his cleats for the Bulldogs.

Dylan Cumbo’s challenge is much more personal in nature, and it is what sets him apart from other athletes that take the field.

A Lynchburg doctor diagnosed Dylan Cumbo with Asperger’s syndrome when he was 8 years old.

Asperger’s syndrome is a type of autism. According to autism.org, “Asperger’s syndrome is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how people perceive the world and interact with others.”

During his early elementary school years, Dylan Cumbo’s parents began to notice peculiar ways he would play with his toys.

“He would fixate on one toy for days at a time and sometimes months,” Dylan’s father, Dean Cumbo, said.

“He would talk about Star Wars for days and would take his toy figures and place them out in a row on the floor, then put their weapons in a row below them — not really playing with them, just organizing.”

Asperger’s presented extra challenges for Dylan Cumbo as he got involved in school and youth sports.

“He had it rough in the public schools,” Dean Cumbo said.

“They were OK for him, but the bullying was getting out of hand. Kids at that age are truly cruel. We knew that he needed a school that was based in good educational foundations and strict codes of conduct. LCA was our first and only choice in this.”

Before he started playing for LCA, Dylan Cumbo played recreational league football in the fifth grade, but said he felt left out by his teammates due to Asperger’s and his physical condition.

“I found out the coaches didn’t like me,” Dylan Cumbo said. “I was almost shunned by them because I wasn’t very fit. I was a big guy.”

In ninth grade at LCA, Dylan Cumbo tried out for the wrestling team and earned a spot on the roster.

“He never got to get on the mat in a match but started to feel ‘normal,’” Dean Cumbo said. “He felt accepted and was invited to parties at some of the wrestlers’ houses.”

A few members of the wrestling team told him he should try out for football.

Dylan Cumbo agreed, and he was greeted by a completely different experience than his fifth grade rec football team.

“There was such a big difference,” Dylan Cumbo said. “First, I went to (Head Football Coach Chris Rocco). The amount of encouragement, even on day one, was incredible. I felt like I had been there the entire time. Now (the players) are my best friends. They are like my family. I couldn’t do anything without them. They always check up on me and ask me how I’m doing.”

Rocco was also Dylan Cumbo’s Bible teacher, and that position allowed both of them to grow together off of the football field.

Dylan Cumbo said he almost gave up playing football last season because he felt he had lost his love of the game.

Rocco was able to restore that love and told him to continue to play for the glory of God and not for the glory of himself.

“(Rocco) is like a role model,” Dylan Cumbo said. “He is always honest. He encourages you to be a better student. He’s always been there. He is always compassionate about what he does, always sincere.”

The first offseason since becoming a member of the football team was a challenging one for Dylan Cumbo, but he was able to persevere thanks to encouragement from
his teammates.

“Physically, I was not very strong when I joined,” Dylan Cumbo said. “I was probably one of the weakest people. I worked hard on it. There was never a day that went by that I wasn’t encouraged by somebody. Someone would always tell me that I’m doing good or that I improved.”

Learning the game of football again at the left guard and nose guard positions was also a challenge for Dylan Cumbo at 5-foot 7-inches, 201 pounds, but not one that he failed to overcome.

“At first he was confused about the whole way to play football,” Dean Cumbo said.

“I went to some of his summer camp training after work and watched him do sprints. I noticed him fall to his knees after each one and was scared about how the team would see him. To my surprise, they started to cheer him on and encourage him. He got up and hit it hard again.”

The offseason passed, and it was time for the regular season to begin.

Dylan Cumbo still remembers the first time he stepped on the field of Williams Stadium on Liberty University’s campus last season in his sophomore year.

“I felt this excitement come (over) me,” Dylan Cumbo said. “I had always wanted to be on the field.”

The moment Dylan Cumbo first stepped out on the field was a moment that his parents will never forget.

“He was so excited on the field,” Dean Cumbo said.

“We were so proud of him no matter if he played one, or 100 plays. He tried to encourage all his teammates when it was going bad. We would watch him talking to players coming off the field. He would tell us that he didn’t want them to be upset and that he told them they could do it and to keep trying.”

During practice, his teammates treat Dylan Cumbo no differently than they would anyone else — regardless of his Asperger’s.

“The players accept him for him which is so important,” Dean Cumbo said.

“They hit him just like they would hit anyone else. He likes it. He tells me, ‘Dad, they don’t take it easy on me, so I am not going to take it easy on them. If I slack up, it doesn’t help them.’ He understands that he has a job to do, and it is to make (teammates) better.”

Currently, Dylan Cumbo is battling a foot injury that has sidelined him from playing football and wrestling this year.

During conditioning drills with his teammates, he felt something pop in his foot. He ignored the pop at the time and continued with the conditioning.

About a week later, he was unable to get his shoe on, and went to see a doctor.

Dylan Cumbo had suffered a Lisfranc injury and fractures in his foot.

He underwent surgery to insert a plate with screws in order to help get his foot back to health.

The injury this season did not dampen Dylan’s spirits, however.

“Once my leg heals, I just want to get right back into it,” Dylan Cumbo said. Despite Asperger’s, Dylan Cumbo is no different than any teenage boy.

He enjoys spending time with friends watching movies and playing video games.

When he is not laughing at Jim Carrey in his favorite comedy, “Dumb and Dumber,” or battling his friends in a match of “Call of Duty,” you can find him on the football field helping out his teammates as a manager — a position he has taken over during his injury.

“(Dylan) has a great attitude and wants to be a part of the team but also wants to contribute,” Rocco said.

“The challenge for him has been not getting to play a lot. Right now, being out with an injury for the year, he’s contributing as a manager — just helping out on the field during practice. He values a lot being around the guys.”

Dylan Cumbo said the support from his parents has been a constant force that pushes him forward.

“When I first started playing sports, (my dad) looked like he was intensely proud,” Dylan Cumbo said. “My mom is just as supportive as my dad. They’re both very supportive of it.”

Whether on the field or off, the impact Dylan Cumbo has had on his team, his school and his family is something that reaches much farther than the dimensions of any football field.

“Personally, I would say it’s easy to put limitations on people based on physical limitations or things that they’re challenged with,” Rocco said.

“It’s been really refreshing and very inspiring to see Dylan overcome the challenges he has and play a role for our team. Probably in a lot of other similar situations, a kid might not fight through adversity like he has. So that’s been an encouragement to me as a coach — just to see a kid compete every day and see him overcome.”

That impact extends into the hallways of LCA, according to high school Principal Tim Hahn.

“Dylan is unique because nobody looks at him as having any other challenges,” Hahn said.

“Having Asperger’s makes him special because he is overcoming more than other people. Dylan being a part of a program is just an encouragement to other students to overcome their challenges, whatever they may be.”

When his playing days for LCA come to an end and Dylan gets his diploma, he does not want his story of perseverance to fade away. He wants to send a message to others.

“I want to be remembered as the kid who stuck it out through the end,” Dylan Cumbo said.

“I want to be known as the kid who stuck his neck out. I want to be known as the kid who, through it all, is able to come out and play a sport.”

When asked if he had a message for any other kids with disabilities who are thinking about playing sports, Dylan Cumbo relied on his personal experience with the obstacles that he has overcome.

“I would say to go with it,” Dylan Cumbo said. “No matter what you’re afraid of, fear is nothing compared to the enjoyment, the thrill, the friends, the excitement that you will receive playing a sport. Once you start playing, it’s just a part of you.”

After he graduates from LCA, Dylan Cumbo plans to attend Liberty University and hopes to become a physical therapist.

Dillard is the asst. sports editor.