Neal Yoro was the 5-foot-9, 175-pound starting center on the Saint Louis School football team that beat Mosi Tatupu-led Punahou in the 1973 ILH title game.

He was a police officer who then became a conservation resource enforcement officer and eventually the owner of a detective agency. Through his 40s, he was a competitive bodybuilder.

After suffering permanent nerve damage to his legs and feet in 2017, Yoro was defiant when physical therapists told him it was unlikely he would ever walk again.

“OK, first thing, you tell a Saint Louis guy he’s not going to do something, that gives him more fire,” Yoro recalled saying. “I told them, ‘I’m going to walk out of here.’ They kind of pacified me with, ‘Oh, that’s good, you’re determined.’ But I don’t think they believed it. After a month of rehab, I ended up walking out of there … with a walker. But I walked.”

Then Yoro had another unthinkable goal. He wanted to play golf again. The full 18. He did not want his condition to be a golf handicap. Once again, his vision drew of-course-you-can nods.

Yoro was cognizant of the challenge. It was in early 2017 when he underwent surgery for a bulging disc that was caused by a spinal decompression. But then complications led to permanent nerve damage. The numbness in his toes prevented him from gripping the Y-shaped strap in his slippers. He had to wear Crocs or sneakers.

Braces from a prosthetic store offered support from his knees to ankles. With less nerve damage from his knee to his torso, Yoro used weight training to strengthen his thighs, hamstrings and gluteal muscles. He still needed metal “canes,” which served as ski poles, to assist his walking.

“I was getting better, I was getting stronger,” Yoro said. “But they said the nerves would never come back. They said it was permanent damage.”

With the braces providing stability, Yoro eventually was able to practice putting, then advanced to a driving range. Last year, he played on a 9-hole course.

Last summer, there was a rare off day for the University of Hawaii football coaches. Jacob Yoro, a linebackers coach and Neal’s only son, wanted to play a round at the Waikele Golf Course. Neal Yoro asked his son if he could join. Neal used his clubs for balance as he went from the cart toward the ball. He mastered a technique in which he found stability before swinging. Scores were not recorded, but Jacob marveled after every hole his father completed. It was the first time since the surgery the elder Yoro played 18 holes.

“And to be honest — I’m getting teary-eyed thinking about this now — my dad doesn’t know this, but I jumped in my car and started crying because of the ability for us to still spend so much time together,” Jacob said. “I’m proud of him.”

Neal said: “It was such a blessing to get back on the course after four years of rehab.”

As he continued playing, Neal would tell his wife, Mae, that playing — not the score — was the most important. But that was not really true. Playing well mattered.

“The competitive juices started flowing,” said Neal, who resumed playing with Saint Louis classmates. “I didn’t want to be that guy everybody is like, ‘Oh, that’s OK.’ I wanted to be competitive with these guys.”

Neal was averaging between 90 and 95. Last week at Ala Wai, he shot an 87. “I was so stoked I was able to do that,” he said. “Hopefully, I can keep that score down.”

Last week, Jacob was promoted to UH’s defensive coordinator. It has been a long journey that also began with a memorable walk.

After a knee injury ended Jacob’s playing career, he walked down the street in Mililani to James Millwood’s house and asked for a job. At the time, Millwood was Mililani High’s head football coach. Jacob coached linebackers at Mililani, then coached at his alma mater, Saint Louis, for four years, then left his job at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard to coach at colleges on the mainland. He joined the UH staff in 2017.

“This profession is not easy,” Jacob said. “This business is not easy. There are times you want to quit. There are times when you want to give up. There are times when you want to feel sorry for yourself. But watching my dad go through all that, and fight through all that, and come out the other end in that manner has been absolutely inspiring. It puts me in check when I’m feeling sorry for myself. I draw a ton of inspiration from that. … My dad is my absolute hero.”