NORMAN — David and Lorraine Lacey were attending a dinner party with friends in Puerto Rico when they got the call.
It was a Saturday night in early February, during a trip to a Caribbean island that David had won for work. When his son Jacob, who doesn't talk much, turns on his phone when he doesn't call, especially on weekend nights, he immediately knows something is wrong.
Never again.
“What's going on?” David asked his son before catching his breath, already anticipating what he was about to hear.
Lorraine was having a good time but was shocked when David, who never leaves early, demands the couple return to their hotel room. He tried to tell her what was going on until the door closed, but after he broke the news, Lorraine shrieked and yelled.
OU's veteran defensive tackle had announced his intentions after the pulmonary embolism that twice killed Jacob last spring returned. Return to Norman Almost two months into my sixth college season, I found myself in the emergency room. He suffered from blood clots all last summer, but quickly recovered to lead the Sooners' defensive unit in 2023.
But when Jacob's parents boarded a flight back to the United States on their way to Oklahoma, they knew this time would be different.
David choked up as he recalled his son suffering excruciating pain and coughing up blood in the hospital for the first time earlier that week. A few weeks later, head coach Brent Venables announced that Jacob would be retiring from football for medical reasons.
“He was in the hospital for a few days, and at that time we knew he was completely off (playing football),” David told The Oklahoman in a phone interview Friday. “But there was still a 5% chance, is there a chance?” Any Method? And I know better, but you still expect. Lord, why would he go through this again? That was a lot. ”
It happened suddenly when Jacob felt a sharp pain.
“I started having pain in my shoulder and in my left lung area,” said Jacob, who took on his new role as a volunteer coach after OU's practice Friday. “When I woke up, I couldn’t stand up, I couldn’t breathe, and I drove to the hospital. …My instinct was, let’s just go. …Thankfully, there was no one there. They took me and I was praying and all I had was shoulder pain and within 24 hours I was out of the weight room and into the hospital…
“I honestly didn't want to believe it at first. … There's no way that could happen, I'm 23 years old, there's no way something like that could happen twice.”
Sooners defensive line coach Todd Bates is close to the Lacey family and couldn't believe the diagnosis. He begged doctors to see if there was a chance Lacey could come back and lock up his pads for one final season.
No, they said. This time there was no turning back.
![Jacob Lacy practices with the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) college football team during spring practice outside Gaylord Family/Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on March 21, 2023 in Norman, Oklahoma. [Steve Sisney/For The Oklahoman]](https://www.oklahoman.com/gcdn/presto/2023/03/22/NOKL/af0afef8-b678-437c-b045-371770eec80f-AD5I1798.jpg?width=300&height=448&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
When the media first inspected spring practice on March 25, Lacy was working alongside Bates at defensive tackle. Even after retiring from playing, he maintains a routine of waking up at 5 a.m. to attend every practice and remains involved in the program, helping his brothers and other young players improve.
He loves being with his team, but he often wishes he could attend practice and play the game he loves again.
“That’s certainly not the case,” Jacob said. “It was definitely a big hit mentally at first, but I think it was the little things that I focused on. There were players coming in that I knew were going to be great players, so I wanted to help them as much as I could. , I focused on that. I focused on waking up, knowing that I could make others better.
“Unfortunately, there's nothing I can change in my role, so I just want to make other people better as much as I can. So it's going well and coaching is definitely different, but it's the next best thing.”
This year has been a very good year for the Lacey family. One of the hardest things to accept is that Jacob felt stronger than ever earlier this year. His vitals were good and he was training every day for the season.
David has recently struggled to talk about his son's reality and said the family is in an “acceptance” stage and trying to move on. For the Laceys, they are most grateful.
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Jacob Lacey's parents were “so happy he was alive”
Jacob arrived at OU for spring practice last year after transferring from Notre Dame and immediately made an impact.
“We knew he was the right guy,” one coach said.
He was dominant in spring baseball, including an impressive performance in the Sooners' annual spring game. Everything was going according to plan until late spring, when David's phone rang while he was in New Orleans attending his niece's graduation. It was Jacob who was having trouble breathing.
David, who has a bachelor's degree in nursing and has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 20 years, advised Jacob to visit an urgent care facility. Later that night, Jacob was taken to the emergency room and diagnosed with bilateral pulmonary embolism.
“The doctors told him (his football days) were over,” David said. “The doctors told him he was lucky to be alive. So we were just glad he was alive.”
Jacob visited a hematologist to learn what caused it and what he needed to do to get better. Bates has been by his side the entire time, and when talking about the possibility of Jacob returning to the field, he didn't take no for an answer.
“I don't believe that,” Bates told David. “I can't believe God would put him through all this to get to this point and not be able to play.”
David was conflicted. Although he serves as a youth pastor, he also works in the medical field and is well versed in science.
Jacob took his prescribed medication for three to four months while wearing a non-contact jersey and training every day. He was doing push-ups in his room when he was out of breath but determined to get back to competing. Strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt worked with him to develop a return plan with medical clearance, and he did just that.
“He got there and was catching his breath,” David recalled. “Then when the doctors said I could play, I couldn't believe it.”
David knew his son definitely wouldn't be playing in the University of Oklahoma's first game last season, but he traveled to Norman to cheer on the team anyway. Not only did Jacob play against Arkansas State, he also played in the first quarter. He ended up playing in all 13 games for OU, totaling 17 tackles, including two for a loss, one sack, and one fumble recovery.
Jacob sacked Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers on Oct. 7, leaving his mark on Sooners football forever. Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian later noted that the play changed the team's mindset. He also won a one-on-one battle at the goal line, which was a key moment for Osaka University to defeat its biggest rival.
“As a father, I always stay calm when he gets sacked or anything, and that's what you're supposed to do,” David said. But I thought the goal line stand was amazing. …That was just a game changer. ”
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“That was everything to him.”
Jacob has spent this spring on the sidelines learning from Bates and coaching young players, but coaching is something he wants to do long-term. He plans to complete his master's degree in May. He has already done an internship at his Chick-fil-A and has multiple job possibilities upon his graduation.
“But the lesson here is what I would tell anyone,” David said. “That's why you get a great education. That's why you get an education, and that's why football is coming to an end for everyone.”
Jacob's fight to play in every game since his life-threatening diagnosis meant the world to him. After the season, he had to decide whether to quit the sport and focus on getting his degree or dance one last dance with his teammates.
Jacob wrestled with the issue for several weeks before announcing he was returning. The chance to play again with Dajon Terry, who will lead the defensive line in the SEC in 2024, was too good to pass up.
They will never have a chance. Jacob always thinks about what happened, but he will never forget the year he spent in crimson and cream.
“(Last season) meant everything,” David said. “I mean, that was it all. It was the culmination of four years, being able to play after the embolism, but he thought his football career was over. It was all about him making sure he was in the situation. That was the most joy I've had watching him in college football.
“It was all about satisfaction and joy and a pure understanding of where he was at that moment this year and what he was going through.”
