When you watch Shawn McGirl play football, you might not notice anything right away. But as your eyes scan down, something seems, well, different.
It's his ankles. Underneath the long black socks that football players from White Bear Lake High School wear with their uniforms, Shawn's ankles seem especially thin and somehow oddly angled.
That's because his ankles are made not of flesh and bone, but titanium. His shins are fiberglass and carbon fiber. His feet are mostly carbon fiber.
From a point just below both knees, McGirl has prosthetic legs and feet.
He's a junior tight end, 6 feet 1 and 190 pounds of willpower and
attitude. His ankles might look like something out of a Terminator
movie, but a much more apt nickname for Shawn McGirl is the
Determinator.