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52 ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 24, ISSUE 6 f step before the leg went "floppy." He'd broken his fibula, near the ankle, in half and torn the deltoid muscle 75 percent. Season over, right? Coach Darrell Hazell thought so. But he didn't know Feichter well enough yet. As soon as Feichter heard his recovery could be as short as six weeks, he was on a mission to re- turn later in the season. How else would he respond? Since he was a kid growing up playing soccer, then football, Feich- ter's always been scrappy. He's al- ways been tough. He's always been a risk taker. Feichter's rugged determina- tion has helped him develop into a surprising key piece to Purdue's defense. From a walk-on who fought to be noticed to a starter. To the team leader in tackles and defensive MVP. To being plastered on bill- boards around town. And, maybe soon, to being recog- nized as a team captain. And yet, he's still not happy, still working to show what he's got, what he can be. "I think that I've turned some people's heads who didn't think I was going to be able to do it," Feichter said on the eve of his senior season, expected to start again at free safety. "Have I really proven myself? I think there's always room for improvement. I have another season left and I can play like people had expected me to before com- ing to Purdue. "I'm not satisfied with what I've done and always try- ing to be the best player on the field." LANDON'S LORE Line up the kids on the field and see who's picked first, who'd pass the look test, and rarely would it have been Feichter growing up, dad John Feichter said. His oldest son knew it, and it made an impression. If Landon Feicher couldn't be the biggest or the stron- gest, he was going to make up for it in other ways. He was going to be the smartest on the field, the gritti- est, play with an unrivaled fire. And he built up a little some- thing else — call it crazy, call it courage, call it tolerance — to play with some brutal injuries. Sophomore year in high school those injuries started in earnest. The season had barely begun when Feichter dove to catch a ball on offense and landed hard on his stomach. He came off the field and started vomiting. But he played the second half. That night, Feichter had to sleep sitting up because he struggled to breathe. The next day he was rushed to the emergency room because he stopped breathing, he said. Feichter had a lacerated spleen and was in intensive care for a week, bedridden for at least a month after that. "The doctor said a lot of people don't come back from that," younger brother and current Purdue safety Evan Feichter said, "and he did the next season." As a junior, Landon Feichter's Bishop Dwenger team was making another run toward a state championship game when he popped a tendon in his hip at semi-state. "You literally could hear the snap," John Feichter said. "I was up in the stands. He had to be carried off the field." The next morning, John had to pick Landon up out his bed to take him to the doctor. That doctor told Landon he'd love for him to play in the state championship game, but "there's no way in the world." "This is probably a two- or three-month recovery. You can't even walk," the doctor told him. Landon Feichter turned to his dad, told him, "I'm play- ing," and ran from the office to the truck in the parking lot. The next week, Feichter played some on offense in the state title game. "He caught a pass, ran 12 yards," dad said, voice swell- Tom Campbell Landon Feichter's determination and rugged- ness may have stemmed from being smaller from most of his teammates growin up, but they're qualities that ultimately have led to admiration for the undersized, hard-hitting safety.