Marcelino Ball Opens Up on Injury, Mental Health and Helping Teammates Succeed

Marcelino Ball was very candid Tuesday about how he processed his torn ACL and how he has made it a point of emphasis to help his teammates off the field.

Dylan Wallace | Oct 20, 2020

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — After Indiana's first scrimmage three weeks ago, Marcelino Ball went over to Cam Jones' house for what he described was supposed to be a quick trip.

Instead, Ball, who had torn his ACL just a few days prior, ultimately ending his senior season before it started, stayed with Jones, one of Indiana's best linebackers, for over an hour to watch film.

Ball sat there with Jones, telling him how he would get around a certain blocker or what he sees in a certain offensive concept.

He knows he can't make a difference on the field this season, but instead of being disappointed, Ball has made it an emphasis to be a difference-maker off the field.

"Helping the team out and watching them achieve has been the highlight," Ball said. "It is either helping your teammates out by being a resource or being nothing. I would rather be a resource and a reason why we improve and win games from the sidelines than moping around because I am not playing."

Even when asked about the possibility of redshirting this season and coming back for a sixth year, Ball was only focused on the preparation his teammates are putting into Penn State this weekend.

"I am focused on this year," Ball said. "We have eight games, eight Big Ten opponents including Penn State this Saturday which is all I am worried about."

Ball's ability to handle the devastating news of his injury has been a product of what he did over quarantine to improve his mental health.

When the pandemic started, it affected lives all over the world. Ball, who admits to having bad anxiety, used the isolation as an opportunity to relax and refocus his energy.

"Sometimes we go through little situations that seem hard to get out of," Ball said. "For me, it was a sense of a time to just kind of get my mind right. Be at home, take some time off, and then finally get back into training and finally just get my mind right."

This isn't the first injury Ball has had to go through. He received a medical redshirt in 2017 after sustaining a season-ending injury. His experience from that three years ago has helped him today.

Over quarantine, Ball asked himself a number of questions, such as what do I want? Why am I playing football? He was able to find the answers he needed and subtract the things he didn't want to be able to gain some peace.

"I want the rewards of having teammates and building relationships and winning and competing," Ball said. "I love that. That made me get back into my zone... Throughout the COVID, it made me just go, relax, we've been doing this for so long, I feel like I just got my confidence back."

So Ball told himself he was the best.

He started training like he was the best. When he got back to Bloomington, nobody could outrun him. He didn't want to leave the field. He called himself impeccable, he was at the top of his game, and then he tore his ACL.

But Ball hasn't let it deter him. He is having surgery on Friday, but he still plans to be at Indiana's season-opener on Saturday.

His teammates voted him as one of the five captains for this season, proving that Ball's presence around the program means mean more to them than how many tackles he would've had in a game.

"I didn't think I'd be in that captain role, which I appreciate even more," Ball said. "Wish I could be out there obviously, but, hey man, fear nothing, take everything, so that's what we gonna do."

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