Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Dear Cordell
12/10/2018 6:00:00 PM | Football
Murfreesboro, Tenn. – It was a cool Friday night in Murfreesboro. Middle Tennessee's biggest rival, WKU, was in town looking to slow down a Blue Raider team that had won four of its previous five games.
Midway through the third quarter, Cordell Hudson and the MTSU defense returned to the field with a 23-3 lead. That's when the unthinkable happened.
Hudson's knee got rolled up under a WKU player when he was making a tackle, and his entire body went the opposite way that his right leg faced, sending him instantly to the ground.
Tera Booze-Hudson and her husband, Curt, saw their son lying on the turf after the play.
"Curt, I think that's Cordell," Tera remembered saying affrightedly.
Coaches and trainers began to gather around Hudson. All Tera and Curt could see from section 2P was a lone white No. 2 on the back of the blue jersey.
"I think that's just a 2, that's (Chris) Stamps," Curt told his wife.
Tera began to pray as the crowd fell silent.
EMTs were motioned to come from the northeast corner of the stadium with a stretcher and spinal board, and Tera knew it was her son they were heading towards.
"He was the only one with white sleeves on that night," she said.
All Tera and Curt could do was watch as one of their worst fears threatened to come to life before their eyes.
Early football beginnings
At as young as 2, Hudson waddled around his house with a football in his hands. Two years later, you could look into his backyard and see him playing tackle football with his friends, decked out in a full Tampa Bay Buccaneers jersey and helmet.
In youth league, he always played up with an older age group and never shied away from contact. He was never the big star on the team, but he always had a knack for making a big play happen in crucial moments.
The young child was just born to play defense.
"His sophomore year of high school, I realized he wasn't the average guy," Tera Booze-Hudson said of her son.
Along with being a highly touted recruit, Hudson exceled in the classroom.
In the second grade at Ridgecrest Elementary School, he read at an eighth-grade level. At Largo High School, he took classes exclusively at St. Petersburg College as a junior and senior and graduated with an associate's degree along with his high school diploma in 2014.
When it came time to announce his college commitment, he chose Syracuse, where current MTSU defensive coordinator Scott Shafer was head coach.
Shafer made sure all of Hudson's credit hours from his associate's degree would transfer over so Hudson could start as a junior in the classroom that fall. That made him eligible to transfer as a graduate student four years later without having to take a redshirt season.
After Shafer eventually moved on from Syracuse and got the job at MTSU, Hudson kept him in mind when it came time for him to become a grad transfer in the summer of 2018.
"(Coach Shafer) was the first coach I contacted when I decided I wanted to transfer," Hudson said. "I'd seen MT play Syracuse the year before so I knew what they were all about, and (Shafer's) been running the same defense that he has for the past 10 years. I knew I'd be able to pick back up with the scheme really quick. I kind of already had my mind made up."
Going into his redshirt senior season, Hudson stepped into a Blue Raider position group that was losing two NFL talents in Mike Minter and Charvarius Ward.
Along with bringing much-needed experience to the defensive backfield, Hudson had contributed 25 tackles through eight games and went into WKU week off a performance where he had an interception and forced fumble in a win over Old Dominion.
That was all up until he was lying face-down on the turf at Floyd Stadium.
The ultimate scare
Hudson rolled over onto his back, stared into the night sky and winced from the sharp pain he was feeling in his lower back. He didn't have any pain in the right leg he'd just had contorted, though, and that was a problem.
"I tried to get up, and when I did, I couldn't feel my right leg at all," Hudson said.
His wincing from the pain quickly changed to a blank stare.
"I wasn't even worried about playing football anymore, I was worried about being able to walk again," he said.
His parents took off down the steps of section 2P towards the field. Curt Hudson stood by his son's side as Tera Booze-Hudson kept praying. She couldn't bear to think that another loved one might be struck by paralyzation.
"My dad was paralyzed from the waist down," she said. "My biggest fear was that my son was now going to be paralyzed. Seeing (the injury) brought back really hard memories for me from when I was a kid."
Tera Booze-Hudson's father, Walter Jones, ended up passing away before Cordell Hudson was born due to a gunshot wound from when he was serving in the military. The shot didn't initially kill him, but it paralyzed him from the waist down and created more complications, eventually leading to his passing.
"Once he got shot and was paralyzed, he was put in a wheelchair and all of the rest of his health problems started occurring," Hudson said.
On the field, EMTs loaded Hudson onto a stretcher. He began to pray and stuck his arm toward the starry night sky to wave to the crowd.
The note
Looking on from the Floyd Stadium crowd as Hudson gave his salute, a 9-year-old girl from Shelbyville wiped her eyes and waved right back as her father stood by her side.
Annaliese Hoff and her father, Shea, were actually on the field watching the game in the first half. Shea won sideline passes from a Facebook promotion that allowed him to bring his family onto the field before halftime.
In the second half, the Hoffs returned to their seats, where they saw Hudson go down.
Curtis Hudson had a tear running down his cheek while he stood by his son, who lied nearly motionless on the field. In the stands, Annaliese Hoff stood up to see what was going on as her own tears began falling.
"I was very shocked and didn't know what to do," she said. "I actually cried."
Shea Hoff held his daughter close and did his best to comfort her before soon realizing the magnitude of the situation himself.
"At first, I was telling her that everything was okay," he said. "But then I said to myself 'No, it's really not okay. He's got parents all the way in Florida.'
"You see things like (Cordell's injury) all the time and don't think much about it."
Annaliese knew exactly what to do after the game. She grabbed a piece of blank white paper, turned it horizontally and with a pencil wrote Hudson about everything she saw.
"Dear Cordell," the note read. "I am sorry you got hurt. I would like to tell you how I feel. It all started when you were tackling the other team, then it all stopped. I stood up and started looking down at the field. My eyes were starting to water. Then tears dripped down my face. I was scared. I cried a lot until you lifted up your hand and waved. I was waving back and still crying. The hospital you went to is where I was born. So, that is my story. Your fan, Annaliese."
At the bottom of the letter, Annaliese topped it off with a picture of Hudson from a game program and a drawing of the redshirt senior defensive back.
Hudson had no idea that when he arrived at Vanderbilt University Medical Center he was at the same hospital where his new fan was born. But unlike the joyous event of childbirth, Hudson was preparing for X-rays after already going through a CT scan during the early morning hours of Saturday, Nov. 4.
"(In the ambulance), I was already in better spirits because I had started regaining some movement," Hudson said. "I had already prayed and knew God was taking care of it."
Back to the field
By the time the sunlight began to shine through the crevice in the curtain of Hudson's hospital room, he started to wiggle his toes on his right leg. Then, with a set of crutches tucked beneath his arms, he left the hospital just before his parents' flight back to Florida.
"(Seeing him move his toes) was almost indescribable," Tera Booze-Hudson said. "I don't know if you've ever been to the beach and you've been buried under the sand and can't breathe, and once the sand finally moves, you get the first gasp of a breath – that's what it was like."
For young Annaliese Hoff, she got to experience the same bursting-out-of-the-sand moment on MTSU's senior day, when Hudson miraculously returned to the field after not knowing if he'd ever play football again – much less walk – two weeks earlier.
Hudson collected three tackles and broke up a pass for the third game in a row en route to a 27-3 Middle Tennessee win, securing the Blue Raiders' first Conference USA Eastern Division title.
After the game, Annaliese, her younger sister, a friend and Shea Hoff went down on the field.
Amidst all of the celebration, Annaliese had one person on her mind: Hudson.
She found him, looked up at the 5-foot-11 cornerback and tapped him on the back.
"Are you Cordell?" she asked.
"I sure am," Hudson replied as he turned around.
Annaliese, her sister and her friend stood next to Hudson, who draped his arms around them so Annaliese could get a photo with her newest hero.
"I was very happy (to see him play again)," Annaliese said.
As much as Annaliese was impacted by Hudson, it was her letter that touched him and gave him the motivation to work his way back onto the field in time for the final three games of his career.
"I knew a lot of people were praying for me and wishing for me to feel better," Hudson said. "But I didn't expect for a 9-year-old girl to sympathize for me like that. It felt really good."
Annaliese said the next time she sees Hudson, she'll tell him one thing.
"I hope you really liked your letter, and I'm still praying for you. God bless you," she said.
Anthony Fiorella is a student writer for goblueraiders.com. Follow him on Twitter @a_fiorella74 and also follow @MTAthletics for more on the Blue Raiders.
Midway through the third quarter, Cordell Hudson and the MTSU defense returned to the field with a 23-3 lead. That's when the unthinkable happened.
Hudson's knee got rolled up under a WKU player when he was making a tackle, and his entire body went the opposite way that his right leg faced, sending him instantly to the ground.
Tera Booze-Hudson and her husband, Curt, saw their son lying on the turf after the play.
"Curt, I think that's Cordell," Tera remembered saying affrightedly.
Coaches and trainers began to gather around Hudson. All Tera and Curt could see from section 2P was a lone white No. 2 on the back of the blue jersey.
"I think that's just a 2, that's (Chris) Stamps," Curt told his wife.
Tera began to pray as the crowd fell silent.
EMTs were motioned to come from the northeast corner of the stadium with a stretcher and spinal board, and Tera knew it was her son they were heading towards.
"He was the only one with white sleeves on that night," she said.
All Tera and Curt could do was watch as one of their worst fears threatened to come to life before their eyes.
Early football beginnings
At as young as 2, Hudson waddled around his house with a football in his hands. Two years later, you could look into his backyard and see him playing tackle football with his friends, decked out in a full Tampa Bay Buccaneers jersey and helmet.
In youth league, he always played up with an older age group and never shied away from contact. He was never the big star on the team, but he always had a knack for making a big play happen in crucial moments.
The young child was just born to play defense.
"His sophomore year of high school, I realized he wasn't the average guy," Tera Booze-Hudson said of her son.
Along with being a highly touted recruit, Hudson exceled in the classroom.
In the second grade at Ridgecrest Elementary School, he read at an eighth-grade level. At Largo High School, he took classes exclusively at St. Petersburg College as a junior and senior and graduated with an associate's degree along with his high school diploma in 2014.
When it came time to announce his college commitment, he chose Syracuse, where current MTSU defensive coordinator Scott Shafer was head coach.
Shafer made sure all of Hudson's credit hours from his associate's degree would transfer over so Hudson could start as a junior in the classroom that fall. That made him eligible to transfer as a graduate student four years later without having to take a redshirt season.
After Shafer eventually moved on from Syracuse and got the job at MTSU, Hudson kept him in mind when it came time for him to become a grad transfer in the summer of 2018.
"(Coach Shafer) was the first coach I contacted when I decided I wanted to transfer," Hudson said. "I'd seen MT play Syracuse the year before so I knew what they were all about, and (Shafer's) been running the same defense that he has for the past 10 years. I knew I'd be able to pick back up with the scheme really quick. I kind of already had my mind made up."
Going into his redshirt senior season, Hudson stepped into a Blue Raider position group that was losing two NFL talents in Mike Minter and Charvarius Ward.
Along with bringing much-needed experience to the defensive backfield, Hudson had contributed 25 tackles through eight games and went into WKU week off a performance where he had an interception and forced fumble in a win over Old Dominion.
That was all up until he was lying face-down on the turf at Floyd Stadium.
The ultimate scare
Hudson rolled over onto his back, stared into the night sky and winced from the sharp pain he was feeling in his lower back. He didn't have any pain in the right leg he'd just had contorted, though, and that was a problem.
"I tried to get up, and when I did, I couldn't feel my right leg at all," Hudson said.
His wincing from the pain quickly changed to a blank stare.
"I wasn't even worried about playing football anymore, I was worried about being able to walk again," he said.
His parents took off down the steps of section 2P towards the field. Curt Hudson stood by his son's side as Tera Booze-Hudson kept praying. She couldn't bear to think that another loved one might be struck by paralyzation.
"My dad was paralyzed from the waist down," she said. "My biggest fear was that my son was now going to be paralyzed. Seeing (the injury) brought back really hard memories for me from when I was a kid."
Tera Booze-Hudson's father, Walter Jones, ended up passing away before Cordell Hudson was born due to a gunshot wound from when he was serving in the military. The shot didn't initially kill him, but it paralyzed him from the waist down and created more complications, eventually leading to his passing.
"Once he got shot and was paralyzed, he was put in a wheelchair and all of the rest of his health problems started occurring," Hudson said.
On the field, EMTs loaded Hudson onto a stretcher. He began to pray and stuck his arm toward the starry night sky to wave to the crowd.
The note
Looking on from the Floyd Stadium crowd as Hudson gave his salute, a 9-year-old girl from Shelbyville wiped her eyes and waved right back as her father stood by her side.
Annaliese Hoff and her father, Shea, were actually on the field watching the game in the first half. Shea won sideline passes from a Facebook promotion that allowed him to bring his family onto the field before halftime.
In the second half, the Hoffs returned to their seats, where they saw Hudson go down.
Curtis Hudson had a tear running down his cheek while he stood by his son, who lied nearly motionless on the field. In the stands, Annaliese Hoff stood up to see what was going on as her own tears began falling.
"I was very shocked and didn't know what to do," she said. "I actually cried."
Shea Hoff held his daughter close and did his best to comfort her before soon realizing the magnitude of the situation himself.
"At first, I was telling her that everything was okay," he said. "But then I said to myself 'No, it's really not okay. He's got parents all the way in Florida.'
"You see things like (Cordell's injury) all the time and don't think much about it."
Annaliese knew exactly what to do after the game. She grabbed a piece of blank white paper, turned it horizontally and with a pencil wrote Hudson about everything she saw.
"Dear Cordell," the note read. "I am sorry you got hurt. I would like to tell you how I feel. It all started when you were tackling the other team, then it all stopped. I stood up and started looking down at the field. My eyes were starting to water. Then tears dripped down my face. I was scared. I cried a lot until you lifted up your hand and waved. I was waving back and still crying. The hospital you went to is where I was born. So, that is my story. Your fan, Annaliese."
At the bottom of the letter, Annaliese topped it off with a picture of Hudson from a game program and a drawing of the redshirt senior defensive back.
Hudson had no idea that when he arrived at Vanderbilt University Medical Center he was at the same hospital where his new fan was born. But unlike the joyous event of childbirth, Hudson was preparing for X-rays after already going through a CT scan during the early morning hours of Saturday, Nov. 4.
"(In the ambulance), I was already in better spirits because I had started regaining some movement," Hudson said. "I had already prayed and knew God was taking care of it."
Back to the field
By the time the sunlight began to shine through the crevice in the curtain of Hudson's hospital room, he started to wiggle his toes on his right leg. Then, with a set of crutches tucked beneath his arms, he left the hospital just before his parents' flight back to Florida.
"(Seeing him move his toes) was almost indescribable," Tera Booze-Hudson said. "I don't know if you've ever been to the beach and you've been buried under the sand and can't breathe, and once the sand finally moves, you get the first gasp of a breath – that's what it was like."
Cordell Hudson with parents on Raider Walk
Uploaded by Middle Tennessee Athletics on 2018-12-10.
For young Annaliese Hoff, she got to experience the same bursting-out-of-the-sand moment on MTSU's senior day, when Hudson miraculously returned to the field after not knowing if he'd ever play football again – much less walk – two weeks earlier.
Hudson collected three tackles and broke up a pass for the third game in a row en route to a 27-3 Middle Tennessee win, securing the Blue Raiders' first Conference USA Eastern Division title.
After the game, Annaliese, her younger sister, a friend and Shea Hoff went down on the field.
Amidst all of the celebration, Annaliese had one person on her mind: Hudson.
She found him, looked up at the 5-foot-11 cornerback and tapped him on the back.
"Are you Cordell?" she asked.
"I sure am," Hudson replied as he turned around.
Annaliese, her sister and her friend stood next to Hudson, who draped his arms around them so Annaliese could get a photo with her newest hero.
She was glad to see you playing again (Me too). Thanks for taking time to talk to her. Congrats! pic.twitter.com/2c9VHM0HSr
— Shea Hoff (@Hoffsdower) November 25, 2018
"I was very happy (to see him play again)," Annaliese said.
As much as Annaliese was impacted by Hudson, it was her letter that touched him and gave him the motivation to work his way back onto the field in time for the final three games of his career.
"I knew a lot of people were praying for me and wishing for me to feel better," Hudson said. "But I didn't expect for a 9-year-old girl to sympathize for me like that. It felt really good."
Annaliese said the next time she sees Hudson, she'll tell him one thing.
"I hope you really liked your letter, and I'm still praying for you. God bless you," she said.
Anthony Fiorella is a student writer for goblueraiders.com. Follow him on Twitter @a_fiorella74 and also follow @MTAthletics for more on the Blue Raiders.
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