For Brophy Prep fullback Erik DiMaria, dad's disease keeps football in perspective

Richard Obert
The Republic | azcentral.com
Michael DiMaria and his son Erik, a senior football player at Brophy Prep, inspire each other. Michael was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy when he was 13.

After football games, before gathering with his teammates and coaches, Erik DiMaria would run to his father, lift him into his car.

This was the ritual when he was an eighth grader and freshman, sometimes after carrying the football 30 times.

"I knew he was tired, but he never complained about it," said Michael DiMaria, 50, Erik's father. "He made sure I was taken care of first before he went to the coaches."

Erik, now a senior fullback at Phoenix Brophy Prep, doesn't need to be asked by his dad for help.

Instinctively, he is there.

"He's my father," Erik says. "He has sacrificed so much for me. 

"The least I can do is help him into his car. I just want to make his day is a little easier."

When Michael was 13, the youngest of five sons in a family of seven in a Detroit suburb, he dreamed of playing football like his brothers, running with abandon  on football fields.

He was smaller than most. Not very athletic. Slow. And frustrated. He couldn't run like his brothers. Right when he was going to play football for the first time, he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, which causes the muscles to weaken and deteriorate.

"They told me flat out, 'You're not going to play football. If you break something, it could cause some trouble to your life','' Michael said. "To me, that was devastating. It was the one sport I really wanted to play. I wanted to be like my older brothers and I couldn't do it."

Michael became team manager his freshman year, when his brother was a senior. The team went undefeated until losing in the Catholic league championship game. The next two years, Michael was the public-address announcer at games. 

"Those kids are still close friends 30-some years later," Michael said. "That was the neatest thing to see, the friendship, the camaraderie."

When his children were born, three sons and a daughter, Michael couldn't wait to be involved in their activities.

Erik, the second-oldest, was drawn to a football when he was 2.

In the fifth grade, when the family moved from Michigan to Litchfield Park, Erik played flag football, while his father helped coach him. By then, Michael, his muscles weakening, had moved from a cane to a scooter to get around. Two years ago, Michael began using a wheelchair. 

Every morning since, Erik is first to come to his dad's aid, helping him into his car so he can get to his work as director of State Legislative Affairs for CenturyLink. A lobbyist, Michael could be on the phone until 10 at night. But he always found balance to make sure he was there for his son at his games.

Erik's games provide Michael an outlet, a spiritual boost.

Brophy College Prep players huddle before the Sollenberger Classic game on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017, at Coconino High School in Flagstaff, Ariz.

DiMaria, 5-foot-11, 197 pounds, leads Brophy (1-4) in yards per carry at 9.9. He has 149 yards on 15 carries. He has eight catches for 101 yards.

Last year, DiMaria was used mostly out of the backfield to catch passes. He had 17 catches for 232 yards, leading fullbacks in Arizona for yards per catch.

He is inspired by his dad.

"He loves to be out here, and I think, he's been through a lot more than I have," Erik said. "A minuscule task for me might be big for him. A small injury, a task I'm going through, is nothing in comparison. I just have to power through it.

"Knowing that he's out there to support me, being able to be on the sideline for my home games and be close, it feels good."

Through his dad, Erik is respectful, humble, grounded, helpful, optimistic.

"His father is a very nice man, very supportive of the program," Brophy coach Scooter Molander said. "Unlike some people who would be resentful or embarrassed, Erik is proud of his dad without bragging on his dad."

They've always been close, connecting on the 45-minute rides from Litchfield Park to Brophy and back during the day. The car rides together are the most enjoyable part of the day for Michael, when he can find out how his son is doing in school, what his plans are.

Erik would like to play college football and study mechanical engineering.

"I see the growth of him from being a kid to a young man, giving to the community," Michael said.

One of his Erik's fondest moments at Brophy came when he had a chance to help out at the Andre House, a homeless shelter, where he worked in the kitchen and an area for people with disabilities.

"They'd be in wheelchairs and I'd take them around in their chair," Erik said.

Michael is reminded of home when he sees Erik play football. For a time, Michael's father was a fireman, working other jobs and staying up late at night, wondering how he was going to get his seven children through college. 

"It reminds me of when I was a kid," Michael said. "My brothers played running back. They have very similar instincts. It's fun for me to see. He reminds you of that time."

The main joy for Michael is that his son can't get the disease.

"All four of my kids are healthy," Michael said. "They don't have to struggle.

"That's the beautiful thing, watching them run, to have the experiences that were difficult for me, that they can freely do things. That's the joy for me."

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To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him at twitter.com/azc_obert. Watch the azcentral sports high school football show 'Cover 2' on the azcentral sports Facebook page.