Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz isn't paid to be a husband or a father, but the rewards still are far greater than anything his job can offer.

Unfortunately, so too is the pain, fear and suffering, because nothing hurts more than to see one of your own hurting.

What should be a happy time for Ferentz, with the Iowa football team having won 21 of its last 26 games, is tempered by him having to watch his son Brian - who is Iowa's starting center when he's healthy - struggle to stave off the devastating effects of staph infection in his right knee.

What once was a college football feel-good story about a father and son who both overcame the odds to join forces at Iowa now has taken on a horrible plot at the expense of what appears to be a fine young man and a pretty good player.

We learned Wednesday that Brian, despite missing seven games last season with a knee injury, has been nominated for the Rimington Award, which goes to the nation's best center. Now, isn't that a cruel irony?

As fortunate and deserving as his father has been to rise up the coaching ranks, the same good luck has not been passed on to Brian.

His career at City High was cut short by injuries, and now his college career is in jeopardy because of a nasty and cruel bacterial infection that strikes when you least expect it and eats at your heart and soul as much as your body. It already has cost him the 2004 season.

"In some ways I'm glad it wasn't someone else's child because he's been through a lot," Kirk Ferentz said Tuesday, his voice cracking with emotion.

To stay positive, Kirk Ferentz reminds himself about the advantages of living in Iowa City, where there is advanced medical care and vast facilities. He went out of his way Tuesday to praise the way that doctors and nurses have handled what is a very delicate and serious situation.

"Every part about it has just been fantastic," Kirk Ferentz said.

Brian Ferentz was diagnosed with staph infection shortly after having knee surgery in February.

"The odds against it are really minimal," Kirk Ferentz said. "It's just one of those things."

According to the University of Iowa Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, staphylococcal infections are the communicable conditions caused by certain bacteria and generally characterized by the formations of abscesses. They are the leading cause of primary infections originating in hospitals in the United States.

Staph exists on the skin or inside the nostrils of 20 to 30 percent of healthy people. The bacteria usually are harmless unless it gets inside the body.

Hospitals are working to eliminate staph infection in part because the majority of hospital patients fall into at least one "at-risk" category, including the elderly, newborns and people recovering from major surgery.

This is not to suggest that anybody or any place is to blame for Brian becoming infected. Life is filled with imperfections, despair and things that just don't make sense or seem unfair.

I can sort of relate to what the Ferentz family is going through because something eerily similar happened to my brother in the fall of 1979.

He also was an Iowa football player, and he looked forward to being coached by Hayden Fry, who was entering his first season at Iowa when my brother had surgery.

What began as a simple procedure to remove a bone chip from his right knee turned into a life-altering experience caused by staph infection.

My brother's knee swelled to the size of a dinner plate, and the pain was excruciating and never-ending.

The infection caused him to lose almost 100 pounds, and he never played football again.

To this day, whenever I tell somebody that my brother was an Iowa football player from the late 1970s, they immediately think of all-Big Ten defensive tackle John Harty, which makes sense.

They don't think about Frank Harty, the linebacker from Des Moines, whose career ended before it started.

They don't think about Frank, the kid who spent an entire semester taking classes while living on painkillers in the hospital.

It would be easy to feel sorry for my brother because his knee still hurts to this day, and he will forever be left asking the question, 'What if?'

But my brother never felt sorry for himself long enough to lose focus on the big picture, and I doubt that Brian Ferentz will, either.

Brian has so much to strive for, even if he never lines up at center again.

He is a bright and articulate young man who has gift for gab and a family and community that cares.

Kirk said Tuesday that the worst part of the infection appears to be over. We can only hope and pray.

Brian now is faced with a daily struggle to get healthy. I wouldn't be surprised if he has heard from my brother by now.