Two local college athletes make very different Sports Illustrated appearances

Sports Illustrated is looking pretty local these days.

The magazine and the website both have coverage of local college athletes, but the stories are quite different.
First came Todd O’Brien. The former St. Joe’s basketball player contributed to SI.com Sunday in an essay criticizing the university and coach Phil Martelli for not releasing him from the team. Doing so would allow O’Brien to play as a grad student with the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Then you’ve got Eric LeGrand. The Rutgers football player was paralyzed during a 2010 game and has been undergoing rehabilitation ever since. Fans voted him to appear on the magazine’s year-end cover for the 2011 Moment of the Year.