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West Bloomfield football turning tragedy into triumph as they head to state championship game

Posted at 6:00 PM, Nov 20, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-21 14:54:18-05

“My dad was the first one to admit that he didn’t know anything about football, didn’t know much about kicking, he was a soccer guy, I don’t know much about that but I know you need to learn to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations,” Bloomfield Hills kicker Nick O’Shea said.

That’s the parental advice Nick O’Shea received from his dad, Dan, about becoming a high profile high school kicker.

And did it ever come in handy, Nick kicked three field goals against Cass Tech on Saturday to catapult West Bloomfield to its first ever state championship game.

It was a moment to celebrate for sure, especially for a kid who has endured just over a month ago.

“I can home from football practice, just a normal day, and there was some police cars outside my house, no clue why, and before I could get my backpack out of my car, I was approached by a police officer and he told me,” O’Shea recalled.

Dan O’Shea suffered a heart attack at home and died. He was 52. The entire community was stunned.

“Nobody expected that to happen especially not to somebody love so much that’s when we really came together as a team as a family,” junior wide receiver Trebron Mosley said.

“It hit me, life can be taken away from you at any moment,” Bloomfield Hills head coach Ron Bellamy said.

“I didn’t really want to talk about it, I didn’t know how to talk about it with anyone so Coach Bell was the only one I felt comfortable calling on,” O’Shea recalled.

Nick said the whole experience is surreal, but he pressed on as he grieved. He went to school the next day, and didn’t miss a football practice. All the whole getting support from his second family, his teammates.

“I know my dad would want me to get on with life and so football is like the thing I’m most passionate about the guys, they’re a second family to me,” O’Shea added.

“There’s things more important than football, and that’s life. We took that moment and embraced it, showed Nick with love and it brought out team and our community and our school very close,” Bellamy said.