Dad in need of transplant fighting to see son play in All-American football game

ST. CLOUD, Minn. (KMSP) - For 17-year-old David Schumer, football hasn’t come easy. But through hard work and determination, he’s making his dreams come true.

“Coming from a small town, to get people to notice you, you have to work really hard to get where you’re going to go,” he said.

The Foley High School senior has been picked to play in the Blue-Gray All-American Bowl in Oakland, California, this January.

The game is an opportunity for some of the best high school players in America to showcase their talents in front of college recruits.

“He made up his mind a long time ago that he wanted to play in the NFL,” said David’s dad Mark Schumer. “The whole way I’ve been behind him 110 percent.”

But, even as David’s biggest fan, Mark isn’t sure he’ll be able to make the All-American game.

“It would take a lot to stop me from seeing that game,” said Mark, who would give anything to be there. “The only thing that will stop me is getting a kidney.”

Mark has kidney failure. He’s been on dialysis since August.

His doctor thinks he will be able to attend the Blue-Gray game, but in his situation, everything is day by day.

“Even without this game, my concern is about my family—it is about my health—but my priority is with my family.”

With a long list of health problems stemming from diabetes, doctors aren’t sure he will be healthy enough for a transplant.

So when his son and the Foley Falcons took the field in the first round of playoffs Tuesday, in the back of his mind was the possibility that this may be the last game he sees his son play in.

“I just try and live in the now...deal with today,” he said.

David says his illness has only given him more motivation to make his dreams of the NFL come true.

“I really want to do it for him because he’s been there and you don’t know how long he’s going to be there, so I’m going to do what I can do and make the most of the memories,” said David.

The Foley Falcons fell to St. Cloud Cathedral in the first round of playoffs Tuesday.