It is amazing how events that virtually have nothing to do with you make you cherish the opportunities you have in life.

For me, it happened last weekend.

I was on my way home from CMU’s 32-25 loss to Purdue when the Ball State-Indiana game kicked off on the radio. The game cut in and out of different stations, so all I found out was that the Cardinals finally beat their first Big Ten team in history, 42-20.

What I did not find out about – until later – was the news about Dante Love.

Love, a senior wide receiver at Ball State, entered Saturday’s game as the nation’s leader in receiving yards per game with 144.3. He was the focal point of one of the most potent offenses in the nation and quarterback Nate Davis’ favorite target.

I watched Love in person last season, in CMU’s 58-38 win in Muncie, Ind., when he returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and racked up a school-record 266 return yards. I remember him as a dazzling player who I couldn’t wait to watch again in person.

Now I won’t be able to.

Early in the second quarter at Indiana, Love suffered a cervical spine fracture on a two-yard pass to the right side. He ducked forward to take a hit from Hoosiers cornerback Chris Adkins, but he fumbled and fell straight to the ground.

He stayed there for several minutes while Cardinals players hoped and prayed he was all right. Coach Brady Hoke cut his press conference early to meet with Love at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

On Monday, Ball State officials said Love is in good spirits and should live a happy life – but his football career likely is over.

My heart sunk when I heard the news.

Love is a man who was destined to play in the National Football League, a player comparable to a Western Michigan product, Green Bay receiver Greg Jennings.

Love had an extraordinary passion for Ball State football and it showed with his performances week after week. To see that part of his life taken from him is overwhelming beyond words.

I could only imagine how people actually involved in college football, whether playing or coaching, feel about a horrible injury such as Love’s.

“We talk with our players about the one-second rule,” said CMU coach Butch Jones, who said he spoke with Ball State coaches earlier in the week. “In one second, your life can undergo a major change. And (Love’s) life is going to undergo a major change.”

Jones is right. All of us are taught to live life to the fullest and to cherish everything we are given. If anybody can take something from Love’s injury, it’s that lesson.

Whether you are a star wide receiver or a burger-flipper at McDonald’s, you have something to value, something to hold onto – something to love. You never know when that thing will be gone for good.

Be sure to keep Love in your thoughts and prayers as he works toward a full recovery.

bmanzullo@cm-life.com

E-mail the author: Brian Manzullo