Neil Parry

Neil Parry is a professional storyteller. That wasn't his life's ambition growing up. But losing part of his right leg playing football at San Jose State sent his future in a different direction.

Parry, 25, wants his story to provide motivation for others. Many times, he gets paid by civic groups, schools, churches and businesses to share his experience. On the weekends, he travels with San Jose State as the color analyst for the team's radio broadcast.

"He's very opinionated, and he'll jump on the officials," said San Jose play-by-play voice Mike Chisholm, who was in the booth when Parry's injury occurred. "He's very good and understands the game well. It's fun working with him."

But all Parry is doing is buying a little time before he pursues his true dream – coaching college football.

San Jose State

Neil Parry (right) has been working with Mike Chisholm as a color analyst on San Jose State football broadcasts. "I'm going to go back to school, get my master's [degree] and start as an assistant," Parry said. "I've talked about coaching with my brother. That's what I'd like to do."

Parry's brother, Josh, should be in the lineup at fullback when the Eagles take on the Cowboys tonight on Monday Night Football. And he's a large part of Neil's story.

Neil travels around and repeats the familiar refrains of his life-altering moment. He's charging down the field on kickoff coverage against UT-El Paso in 2000, his sophomore season, when an awkward collision abruptly snaps his right leg.

"I knew it was broken," Parry said. "I felt it, heard it and saw it. I knew I was out the rest of the season. I was mad because we were going to play in a bowl game and I was going to miss it."

Chisholm knew it was broken, too. He told listeners, even before he knew who was injured, that "whoever it is has a broken leg."

Most football injury stories end there. Parry gets a cast, misses the season and returns to the field in 2001. But the bone managed to poke out of the skin and an infection quickly spread. The doctor came in to Parry's hospital room and explained the options. They could sever the nerve and keep the foot, but Parry wouldn't be able to even feel that the foot was there. He figured amputating the leg about eight inches below his knee would give him the chance to walk and maybe even run again. File 2001 / AP

A fracture sustained in a 2000 game resulted in the amputation of Parry's leg. That didn't prevent him from rehabilitating and returning to play for the Spartans in 2003. "I was watching a game on TV and asked if I'd be able to run again," Parry said.

No one knew for sure, but Parry figured once he could run, he could play football again.

Josh wasn't so sure. Neil says he constantly talks about his brother in his speeches. The two always wanted to play football together. It was the reason Neil followed Josh to San Jose State.

"After they told me and the family that my knee was amputated, he said that he was done playing," Neil said. "He felt like a game shouldn't do this to somebody, especially his little brother."

But Neil told his brother he didn't want an injury to end two careers and that Josh had to play for the both of them. So Josh played while Neil rehabilitated.

Neil returned in 2003 at home against Nevada and played on the kickoff coverage. He played seven more regular-season games and the East-West Shrine Game. But it was running on the field for Senior Day with his family in attendance that motivated Neil to play again.

Josh went on to the NFL while Neil went to the broadcast booth after graduating in 2004 with a degree in public relations. Neil admits that you can't tell he's an amputee by watching him walk, because the operation was below the knee. He has several different prosthetic feet that he uses for hiking, walking, running and other activities. I can do a lot of things, and I'm thankful for that," Parry said.

More people may hear his story. He said he's started the process of turning his story into a movie.