University of North Carolina Athletics
Walston: Quinn, Sloan Share Common Bond
January 4, 2010 | Football
Jan. 4, 2010
By all accounts, Lavelle Sloan was one of the fastest running backs in Cumberland County. The Pine Forest product possesses 4.4 speed and a quiet-but-confident attitude on the field. Two seasons ago, Lavelle's 98-yard touchdown run sealed a junior varsity victory against Southview. But Lavelle didn't get to play his senior year of football. The Pine Forest High School student learned in May that a tumor was growing on the right side of his brain.
"Football has been everything to him," Randy McLaughlin said of his son. "When you take something away like that, it seems catastrophic to a 17-year old. McLaughlin happened to be watching a Carolina football game this fall when he learned that Robert Quinn had missed his own senior year under similar circumstances.
Two years ago, Quinn was in a hospital bed recovering from surgery on a brain tumor. This season, the sophomore defensive end earned All-ACC honors for his 11 sacks and 19 tackles for loss.
"I was like, those two kids, it's so similar, that I wanted them to meet," McLaughlin said. Lavelle stood on the sidelines in November before the Tar Heels took on Miami, but he didn't get to do any more than shake Quinn's hand. Just days after the regular season ended, Lavelle met Quinn at Duke Hospital as Lavelle prepared for another round of chemotherapy.
The two chatted in Lavelle's room for about 30 minutes. Both Robert and Lavelle are soft-spoken and somewhat shy. On this occasion, Quinn did most of the talking.
The two talked about missing school, and eating whatever they wanted to, and kept the football talk to a minimum. "Since he's already been through it, he's finished, it's helping me out a lot," Lavelle said. "He talked to me about keeping my head up. I haven't talked to anybody that's really been through what I've been through."
"We basically have the same story," Quinn said. "When Andre (Williams) called me to his office and told me the situation, I knew from the jump, whatever I could do to help. It just touched me so personally because I went through the same thing."
After the short visit, it was time for Lavelle's chemotherapy treatment. The two exchanged hugs and handshakes, and Robert told Lavelle to keep his head up.
Lavelle's mother Marilyn Sloan said Robert's visit had given her son something to look forward to. "It's kind of changed him. He had given up, like `I'm not going to play.' Seeing Robert on the field, it gives him motivation and inspiration."
Lavelle had planned to come to a bowl practice, but his health wouldn't allow it. Robert hoped Lavelle was watching the game on Dec. 26. "I'll be on TV and he can tell his friends, `I know that guy,'" Quinn said. "I think it's a little funny and hopefully, it will just keep him motivated."
Getting to know Lavelle has made Robert appreciate his own situation. While his own tumor was benign, that's not the case for Lavelle. "It made me re-think what I went through," Quinn says. "I'm not the only one who went through this."
Though Quinn has been dominant on the football field in two seasons at Carolina, his own situation, and meeting with Lavelle, have given him a unique perspective. "Getting the sack and forcing a fumble to get a touchdown and win the game, that's OK," Quinn said. "Football is just a game, but this is your life. Every life is special, no matter who it is. I'm just glad I got the opportunity to come down here and speak to him and help him out any way I can."
Turner Walston is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly. Turner's weekly Tar Heel football podcast, The Walkthrough, is available on iTunes.
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