Pueblo Central's Valdez battling through dystonia, cerebral palsy

Pueblo Chieftain - 11/3/2019

Nov. 3--Pete Valdez rolls up to the fence surrounding the Central High School practice football field. Just like any normal day.

During a water break, several teammates head to the fence and ask Valdez how he is doing.

The week prior, Valdez sustained a left knee injury during a fall and wasn't able to travel with the Wildcats to Durango.

"It was upsetting," Central senior linebacker Austin Allenback said of Valdez's absence. "He always comes with us and he always makes it a point to come to film (study). It was different without him out there yelling."

The knee injury didn't keep Valdez off the trip. After he fell, his body's muscles seized, contracting and releasing painfully.

But he's used to that.

He suffers from dystonia, a rare disorder that causes one's muscles to contract uncontrollably. It can be and often is excruciating due to the fatigue and constant strain it causes.

On top of that, Valdez was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was 2, making movement even more difficult when the dystonia starts to attack his body.

But this was a minor bump in the road for the Central junior, as his fight to get better on the football field is a reflection of what he's had to endure just to be there.

That's right. He's on the Central football team.

Joining the world

Valdez entered the world on June 21, 2002, three months earlier than expected.

Complications from a previous pregnancy in which the child died already meant his mother, Josephine Munoz, was on high alert throughout the six months carrying her son.

On June 21, 2002, Munoz woke up not feeling right and was rushed into surgery at 8:30 a.m.

Then, 35 minutes later, Valdez was born.

"He was born at 26 weeks and six days," Munoz said. "He weighed 1 pound, 14 ounces when he was born ... He is very stubborn and very impatient and he wanted to join the world a little sooner than he needed to."

Valdez was rushed into intensive care. Doctors were not able to provide Munoz with much information on her newborn son, her first child.

"It was surreal, very scary," Munoz said. "They told me they didn't know what was going to happen. They told me we had to take it hour by hour -- and from there it came to day by day and then week by week. Then all of a sudden, they told me he can go home."

After 89 days battling in the hospital, Munoz took her baby home. It was there, as he grew and struggled, that he discovered the love of his life.

A football family

Surrounded in his nursery by any and everything Denver Broncos, Valdez was groomed from infancy to become one of the team's biggest fans.

He worshiped John Elway, Terrell Davis, Champ Bailey, Peyton Manning and Von Miller.

But none of those superstars could compare in Valdez's mind to his four older cousins who played football at South while he was growing up.

Because of his passion for football, Valdez made what many would regard as an incomprehensible decision: He wanted to play football.

"When he was small, his nursery was all Denver Broncos; so I kind of created this mess. And now I suffer for it," Munoz admits with a laugh. "When you have four amazing, strong cousins that are out there and you see them doing this, it triggered something in him; it triggered a desire in him."

But football is tough enough for a healthy person. For a person with cerebral palsy -- a congenital disorder that could affect movement, muscle tone and posture -- and dystonia, the notion of playing football seems to everyone but Valdez to be a dream that would go unfulfilled.

The cerebral palsy diagnosis at 2 came after Munoz had noticed the toddler's motor skills and size were not normal.

By 7, Valdez had to crouch to walk, but there was hope that surgery might help loosen his hamstrings and get his legs into a more fluid motion.

Without hesitation, Valdez wanted to do the surgery. But not to walk. He wanted to get on the gridiron.

"So we did the surgery and he did the rehab and the whole thing," Munoz said. "The following year, they told him, 'You wanna go play football? Go.'"

Becoming a Wildcat

Valdez played throughout elementary school and won a championship as a member of the Corwin Middle School team during his eighth-grade year.

Originally, the plan was to be like his older cousins and go to South, but a tour of Munoz's alma mater in Central quickly changed his mind.

Wildcats football coach Kris Cotterman had a table set up at a Central open-house type of event and invited Valdez to try out for the team.

"When (Valdez) came out here, I talked to his mom and I was like, 'What are the limitations?' And she said, 'Absolutely none,'" Cotterman said.

That's how Munoz decided to raise her son from the beginning. Each day isn't about what Valdez can and can't do. Rather, it's about being like everyone else.

"I raised him with the belief that he can do exactly what any other kid can do," Munoz said. "It may not look so pretty; it may take a little bit longer. But he can do exactly what everybody else does."

Cotterman has been astounded by what the 5-foot-3, 103-pound Valdez can do.

Whether it's summer workouts, sprints or anything in between, Valdez is there and he's going to give it his 100% effort, Cotterman said.

"I'm telling you right now, if we had 11 Petes, we'd win a state championship every year," Cotterman said. "He's the most mentally, physically tough kid in the state of Colorado; I guarantee you. If you want to test that, come watch him Monday when he runs eight gassers. There's no one tougher in this program."

His teammate Allenback agreed: ""He's always excited and he's definitely the toughest one out of all of us. If we all had a heart like he does, we'd probably be undefeated right now. He's definitely a strong kid."

Bigger than football

Valdez's life isn't just about football.

Granted, he and his family do make sure to take a tour of Mile High Stadium every spring break; attend Broncos training camp in the summer; and go to at least one Broncos game during the fall.

But Munoz wants her son to enjoy everything life has to offer, which is why she doesn't allow him to become stuck in the mundane or on a football field.

"I was at work on a Friday and by that afternoon, I had a full-fledged trip planned to Albuquerque, New Mexico," Munoz said. "So by the seat of our pants, we go. I want him to experience life and I want him to not always be worried about the struggle. I want him to get memories. I want him to enjoy life. I want him to be able to someday have a family of his own and that he realizes that you can't take life so serious all the time."

Still, football has helped him with being able to enjoy the sudden travels and adventures.

His father, Pete Valdez Sr., noticed the increase in strength his son gained from being on the team and the way it has affected his life off the field.

"Since he got to high school, lifting weights; that's helped him tremendously," Valdez Sr. said. "He would have a (para-professional) help him get around from class to class, and part of this year, he didn't have that. He was walking everywhere by himself, doing everything by himself."

Valdez has become strong enough to dress himself every morning before school, brush his teeth and is learning to drive as well.

"He's very self-sufficient, very independent young man. He needs some help here and there, but for the most part, he can do everything," Munoz said.

The physical aspect has been important, but the team also has helped Valdez shape his life emotionally.

"He's always been someone who's quiet, but football brings him out," Munoz said. "With him being an only kid, he's often felt a little like he doesn't have anybody. Every last player from freshman, JV and varsity in that Central program, they're his brothers."

Added Valdez: "Being part of the football team has been awesome and a tremendous opportunity with the guys. The coaches know me really, really well -- and the guys take great care of me. They watch out for me. They take care of me like I'm one of their own brothers."

Earning everything

Valdez earned the biggest football moment of his life on Sept. 28, 2018.

With Central up 40-6 and a running clock against Sierra, the junior running back checked in for the first time at wide receiver.

The next play, quarterback Ryley Roth handed Valdez the ball for a run up the middle, which turned into a 19-yard touchdown as time expired.

Special night-Central's Pete Valdez refuses to let Cerebral Palsy hold him down as he scores a TD on his first varsity play. Not a dry eye in the place for a young man who has never missed a practice.@CHSAA @bersch_jeff @ajwrules44 @PuebloCentral @jryancasey @OrmanArmy @CoPreps pic.twitter.com/duapAbd4GD

-- Central Athletics (@ormanarmysports) September 29, 2018

"I didn't even realize what was happening," Munoz said. "I had gone up to the bathroom and I didn't even know what was happening. I was coming back down and one of the moms said, 'Are you watching this?' She's like, 'Do you have your phone?' And I was like, 'Yeah, why?' And she goes, 'Look!'"

Added Valdez Sr.: "It was a great feeling and I was proud of him for what he's been through and going through still, and he's still out there, chomping away and doing what he loves to do. I think that was one of the greatest moments in my life, to see my son do that. It was wonderful."

With one run for 19 yards and a touchdown to his name, Valdez is one of the most efficient running backs in the state.

And with one game left on the schedule this year and his senior season still to go, Valdez still has time to potentially top what he described as his favorite memory playing football.

"That moment for me was about a young man who earned that," Cotterman said. "Most gratifying touchdown I've ever seen in my life. I wish we could get him more because he's a stud."

Ringing the bell

With Valdez's current injury, he was sidelined for more than just the trip to Durango. He couldn't suit up for the Wildcats' rivalry match-up against Centennial in the annual Bell Game on Oct. 25.

However, he was on the sideline the entire game despite the cold weather amplifying his dystonia.

Getting the bell back on the blue side is all he wanted to see.

Before the game, Munoz described how the team exited their inflatable tunnel and came over to Valdez to check on him and tell him they were going to bring the bell back for him.

Sure enough, the Wildcats made good on their promise as they shut out Centennial 23-0 to bring the bell back for the first time since 2015.

And Valdez was the first one to ring it back to blue.

"On that field, there was my son, in the middle of all of his brothers. And they brought him that bell and they let him ring it," Munoz said, holding back tears. "I'll tell you what: Every one of those boys that night became my son. I will forever hold that memory in my heart."

But it's a different bell that tolls for Valdez as the dystonia battles to keep him in his corner, constantly trying to deliver a knockout.

But this is a fighter we're talking about. He's going through a tough time now -- not his first and it won't be his last.

Don't bet on dystonia. Valdez already has proven he can beat that and everything life has tossed at him.

"So when somebody says somebody is a hero, I look at that person and I think, 'Are you really a hero?'" Munoz said. "I can tell you from the core of my soul, my son is the biggest hero in my world. I don't think anybody will ever compare to him.

"Whatever he does in this world, I'll forever be proud of him."

Chieftain sports reporter Austin White can be reached by email at awhite@chieftain.com or on Twitter @ajwrules44.

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