10 and 90: The rule that changed this football player’s life

For safety Logan Seelye, one moment changed everything — his hopes of playing college sports, and a potential professional career.

In 2003, in a game against a Redmond high school and with scouts from Boise State and the University of Washington present, Seelye made his move.

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“The ball snapped and I diagnosed it real quick, it was going to be a pass play,” Seelye told KIRO Radio’s Jason and Burns. “I make my break to go make a tackle. When you play football you never want to see green, you never want to be looking down at the grass because your head can get compressed, you can get snapped one way or the other.”

Seelye led into another player with his head to the side, attempting to strike him with his shoulder. But, the other player rotated at the last minute. This meant that Seelye hit him directly with his head, and hard. He was flung to the side.

“I’m lying on the ground conscious thinking, ‘What just happened?’” he said. “I couldn’t feel anything, I couldn’t move. The only way I can explain it — it’s like if your foot falls asleep, when it starts to wake back up it gets tingly and like it’s on fire. That’s what my whole body felt like. I thought my knees were up into my chest; apparently they were perfectly straight. I was like a fish out of water.”

He was rushed to a hospital. It was soon determined Seelye suffered a spinal cord injury, leaving him paralyzed. Doctors said he would never walk again, and have no movement or feeling from his chest down.

“I was really naive about the seriousness of the injury at first because I didn’t really understand it,” he said. “I never really understood what ‘paralyzed’ was, or breaking your neck or spinal cord injuries.”

That was before he heard “10 and 90.”

10 and 90

At first, a sadness settled in. Seelye said he often cried in the hospital. But one day, something happened.

“Maybe two or three years after the injury went by, I was super positive,” he said. “I haven’t really had a bad day since.”

“I felt like I was a positive person beforehand, but something with the injury brought out an immense positivity from me and hope for my future,” Seelye said. “I live a normal life, just from a wheelchair.”

Seelye credits something that his football coach told him — 10 and 90. Life is only 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it.

Seelye started to react to his life. He spent the following years striving to improve his condition, hitting the gym. Today, he has a sense of feeling over all his body, though the back of his triceps are still a bit dodgy. He can walk for brief times — his right leg is weaker than his left, so he still sometimes uses a wheelchair. But that doesn’t stop him. He’s still in the gym every day.

He’s taking that attitude to students across Washington state. He tells his story and delivers his 10 and 90 message, and answers questions. One recent question from a third grader actually surprised him: If he could go back in time, would he change things to avoid his injury?

“No, I wouldn’t,” he said. “Because I’ve been able to do so many awesome things with my life that I don’t think I would have had the opportunity if I didn’t have the injury.”

“I’ve probably come to that conclusion over the years, but more so at this point in my life. I wouldn’t change it,” Seelye said. “Which is weird to say because I love football. I’ve thought about what would have happened if I didn’t get hurt. But I don’t know if I would be with my now wife. I don’t know if I would have the daughter that I have. I don’t know if I would have had the opportunity to inspire all the people I possibly can.”

Seelye has condensed this outlook to a book, “10 and 90: The tackle that changed everything.”

“It changed it for the better for me,” he said. “Life sucks, honestly, sometimes. But it doesn’t matter if you can react to things with positivity.”