North’s Jose McDonald left family in Puerto Rico for better life and chance to play football

Tears streaked down North running back Jose McDonald’s face when he overheard that his leg injury was a possible break. An injury had shortened his junior season and now his senior season was likely over after one game.

“Tears are running out of his eyes and … I’m telling him that ‘your best years are ahead of you,’ ” North coach Joe Belden said. “His best years are ahead of him. Football will help him pay for college. I believe it.

“He really is one of the best football players that nobody knows about.”

There’s little reason McDonald would be a well-known commodity, even though he moved from Puerto Rico to Wichita in 2013 specifically to play football and get away from a crime-ridden city.

Injuries are the primary reason he has only played 11 games in past three seasons.

Yet North assistant Elbert Mack, who played seven seasons in the NFL, believes McDonald has a future in the game.

Mack sees the physicality with which McDonald (5-foot-10, 190 pounds) tackles. Mack sees the naturally strong athlete’s understanding of football and its angles. He sees McDonald’s vision and anticipation. He sees an athlete who should play football in college.

“He’s special,” said Mack, a North graduate. “He’ll get a break sometime, and he’s going to deserve it when he gets it.”

▪  ▪  ▪ 

McDonald didn’t live in fear while growing up in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Even as he watched friends die from gunshots or beatings.

“It’s really bad. All they do is kill people,” McDonald said. “The bullet doesn’t have a name — they might be going to kill somebody, but if you’re around there, you might get killed, too.

“I thought about it every day that I could die.”

McDonald’s best friend, Alexis Rodriguez, was beaten to death when McDonald was in fourth grade.

“My other friend yelled something to someone that was in a car. They got mad,” said McDonald, remembering the horrifying incident. “They went to the trunk. They got some bat. They hit (Rodriguez) in the head. And killed him.”

There were more than 1,100 murders in 2011 in Puerto Rico, an island of 3.7 million people, and the high crime rate is why McDonald’s dad, also named Jose, convinced him to leave his family in 2013 at age 15.

“My dad want me to do this because where I live, it was a really poor neighborhood. All my friends were doing bad stuff, selling drugs. Everybody was getting killed,” McDonald said. “All my friends. He didn’t want me to be one of them. He wanted the best for me.”

And the best for McDonald was to move to Kansas to live with Wichitan Manny Martinez, whom he had met while Martinez was doing a football camp in Puerto Rico. McDonald is one of four North players from Puerto Rico who live with Martinez, a North graduate.

“It was hard because I didn’t know nobody in Kansas,” McDonald said. “… It was too far away.”

McDonald couldn’t speak English when he arrived, but he immersed himself in school, worked closely with his teachers and became a part of the Martinez family.

His transition was helped by continuing to have the same humble demeanor he developed while in Puerto Rico in order to avoid attracting attention.

“He has this great sense of purpose that ‘I came here for a better life and to get out of that dangerous situation. I’m here and I’m not going to let it slip away,’ ” Belden said. “He’s very passionate. He’s a great teammate.”

▪  ▪  ▪ 

Football trails baseball and boxing in terms of popularity in Puerto Rico.

“I only had two friends who played football in Puerto Rico. Until I was 10 or 11, I didn’t know that we had football in Puerto Rico,” McDonald said. “Football changed my life.… I have something to get me away from that.”

McDonald had 149 rushing yards on 21 carries in the season opener for North, which is 1-7. But he suffered an injury the following week in practice and returned Oct. 15, running for 117 yards in North’s win over East.

“He’s a difference maker,” Belden said. “He runs hard, he breaks tackles. He’s deceptive, he’s strong.”

Mack added: “His physical dominance is uncomparable to some of the other kids around the city.”

McDonald moved to Wichita in late 2013, so he played four games as a sophomore. At the end of the season, he tore tendons and ligaments in his left ankle and was hobbled for eight months.

In the first three games of 2014, McDonald had more than 300 rushing yards. And then he broke his wrist in practice. He was able to return for the final game of the season.

When McDonald’s on the field, he has averaged 100 yards rushing.

“I’ve contacted coaches that I know that are coaching at the Division I level,” Belden said. “I’ve sent clips out on him. There’s people who are obviously interested. The injuries are the thing that have kind of held him back a little bit because there are limited game tapes — but there are no shortage of highlights.”

▪  ▪  ▪ 

McDonald’s injury after the first game this season was a high-ankle sprain, but it was expected to keep him out the entire season.

He was ready to play on Oct. 15, which was perfect timing because his father surprised him with a visit.

“I saw him and I ran to him and jumped. He picked me up and hugged me,” McDonald said. “I cry on his shoulder.… In the game, every time I made a good play, I was looking to the bleachers to see him.”

McDonald hopes to continue to play football. He’s hoping to get that break Mack believes he should receive.

And his hope isn’t tied only to his passion for the game.

“One hundred percent, I want to play football in college. That’s why I came. All I want is a scholarship,” he said.

“I want to share that I’m not going to be the only one from Puerto Rico to play here. As they help me, I feel that I want to help, too. So I’m bringing friends, so they can have the same opportunity that I have.”

This story was originally published October 23, 2015 at 10:41 AM with the headline "North’s Jose McDonald left family in Puerto Rico for better life and chance to play football."