As he lay on the field at Spartan Stadium, bleeding from a compound fracture of his lower right leg, Neil Parry vowed he would play football again.

He did not suspect that he would lose part of the leg to amputation nine days later, or that more than 20 surgeries would follow over the next three years, or that he'd need to learn not only how to run again but also how to run through webs of red tape.

But to Parry none of that would matter.

Tonight, he will fulfill the promise he made to himself Oct. 14, 2000.

Wearing a prosthesis specially designed for high levels of activity, Parry will line up at left tackle on the punt return team in San Jose State's game against Nevada at Spartan Stadium. He will be the third player known to have competed in major college football with an artificial leg.

``If Neil Parry doesn't motivate you to go out and give it your all,'' said his teammate, defensive tackle Larnell Ransom, ``I don't know what to do.''

Parry's story is drawing national attention. He will appear on NBC's ``Today Show'' on Friday morning and CNN's ``Paula Zahn Now'' on Friday night. The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and Sports Illustrated have requested credentials to tonight's game.

``I've been saying from Day One, I don't care who is there,'' said Parry, 23, a fifth-year senior. ``If it's just my teammates, I couldn't care less.

``I just want to be part of the team. Anything inside the white lines is better than being in a hospital bed.''

Reality check

He was running downfield, covering a kickoff in the third quarter of a game against Texas-El Paso, when a teammate was knocked down and rolled into Parry's leg.

Parry heard the bones snap -- the fibula and tibia breaking the skin -- but his first thought was that the Spartans had a chance to play in a bowl game and he would miss it.

Parry comes from a football family. His father, Nick, coaches high school football in Sonora. His brother, Josh, was a star linebacker for San Jose State the year Neil got hurt and is playing professionally as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles' practice squad. Neil himself hopes to get into coaching after graduating this spring.

``We all know -- his brother, he and I -- that once you step on the football field, it could be your last,'' said Nick. ``Every player knows that in the back of their mind, but they don't dwell on it.''

The Parrys were forced to dwell on it when, within days of the injury, a life-threatening infection developed in Neil's leg. He was transferred from O'Connor Hospital to Stanford Medical Center for specialized treatment.

The football team moved on to its next game and scored a big victory at Nevada. In the jubilant locker room, Josh, who had made a career-best 17 tackles, held up a game ball that would be given to Neil. Then he announced that his brother was about to lose part of his leg.

``It went from everybody being all pumped up to not a single word being spoken,'' equipment manager Mike Lane said. ``I don't think there was a dry eye in the locker room.''

Two days later, the leg was amputated three inches below mid-calf.

``There were so many things going through my mind,'' Nick Parry recalled. ``I taught him the game. It's because of me that he's probably playing the game. If I hadn't done what I did, then he wouldn't be where he was.''

Josh Parry had thoughts of his own. In the days leading up to his 17-tackle game at Nevada, he had seriously considered quitting the sport. Neil talked him out of it.

``He flat-out said, `Keep playing for me,' '' Josh told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

``I respect him, and I look up to him for what he's accomplished and what he's about to accomplish,'' added Josh, who will join his parents at Spartan Stadium tonight. ``The last couple of years have been tough for him, and now he can bring it all to a close. . . . . I get chills when I think about it.''

The fighting spirit that had enabled Neil, at 6-foot-1 and 175 pounds, to make the team as a non-scholarship player carried him through crisis after crisis.

``You can just see it in his eyes,'' said Parry's roommate, quarterback Scott Rislov. ``You can see it when he comes home and sits on the couch -- he's not going to let anything stand in his way.''

Long comeback

Six weeks after the injury, Parry stepped onto the field at Spartan Stadium. Designated a co-captain for the season finale against Fresno State, he walked on crutches alongside his brother for the pregame coin toss.

``One of the most emotional things I've ever seen,'' said Mike Chisholm, San Jose State's radio broadcaster.

By August 2001, 10 months after the injury, Parry was back at practice, participating in fall workouts and taking calls from the president. (Bill Clinton promised to be in attendance for Parry's first game, but he is out of the country this week.)

Parry had hoped to play in 2001, but when that went awry he set his sights on the 2002 home opener against, coincidentally, Texas-El Paso.

That's when the hurdles changed to red tape. His insurance carrier, Mutual of Omaha, threatened to cancel its lifetime coverage for Parry's prostheses. When that problem cleared -- Mutual of Omaha reconsidered its position -- Parry's leg acted up.

Another operation was needed.

``After 25 surgeries and just problem after problem, everything kept going the wrong way,'' Parry said. ``A few times it was just like, `Man, is this really what I want to do? Is this going to happen?' But this last summer everything just started going well and one thing led to another.''

Parry recalled a conversation this summer with defensive-line coach Earl Buckingham.

``Are we going to do it this year?'' Buckingham asked one day in the weight room.

``I hope,'' Parry said.

``Hope is for the future,'' Buckingham told Parry. ``Faith is for right now.''

Last month, Parry began practicing in full pads for the first time since the injury. A week ago, he finally convinced Coach Fitz Hill that he was ready.

``He's earned the right,'' Hill said. ``Nobody's given him anything.''

Game visions

``So many different scenarios have run through my head,'' Parry said, envisioning tonight's possibilities.

The best ones: He blocks a punt, or he throws a block that keys a touchdown run.

The reality: If he doesn't play well, he might not play again.

But tonight is a dream come true, a promise kept, and Parry will take the field with a new vision forming, one in which he runs out there to meet his parents for Senior Day on Nov. 22.

``I want to finish what I started,'' Parry said.