A reason to Fiesta
Injured QB Milton likely to join Knights for bowl
Injured UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton is going to the Fiesta Bowl.
Milton was cleared to undergo another surgery after an ultrasound Thursday and is slated to travel to Arizona to cheer on the Knights in the Fiesta Bowl, according to a post by his mother on Twitter.
Teresa Milton posted Thursday morning, “Good Morning Knight Nation! Wanted to thank you all for the prayers and good thoughts! Yesterday KZ has a ultra sound and it was music to our hearts ! Today a surgery to get him more comfortable! He will be at the Fiesta Bowl to cheer his team mates on to Victory! Arizona bound.”
Milton, who won American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors and finished sixth in Heisman Trophy voting, suffered a catastrophic leg injury during the Knights’ regular-season finale at USF.
He suffered nerve damage and had three surgeries. Once his vascular flow was repaired, doctors planned to perform surgery to repair his dislocated knee, according to statements released by his family and a report by ESPN’s College Game Day.
UCF players said they’re looking forward to having their team leader back — even on a limited basis.
“It’s going to be awesome,” UCF senior linebacker Pat Jasinski said. “We’ve been asking our training staff along this whole way how McKenzie’s been doing, staying up to date with the dayby-day updates, so we kind of knew this was happening and everything was going really well. So having that opportunity for him to come out there with us is going to be huge.
“It’s going to boost everybody up.”
Senior defensive lineman Titus
Davis added, “We would love to have our brother with us. Just having him there, having his spirit and having his words of encouragement is always good.”
Milton was released from Tampa General Hospital, but his lack of mobility and recovery needs forced him to cheer on the Knights from home rather than watching UCF beat Memphis in the AAC title game in person.
Doctors were previously encouraged Milton was able to wiggle his toes and the latest ultrasound noted by his mom indicates he continues to recover from the nerve damage he suffered as he was tackled while
scrambling for a first down.
Teresa Milton also shared a video compiled by UCF Alumni chapters in Portland, Charlotte and Dallas. It features fans wearing leis in the Hawaiian quarterback’s honor the day of the AAC Championship Game and assuring him they believed he would recover from his injury.
The video closes with UCF’s 10Hana logo, a mix of Milton’s No. 10 jersey number and the phrase “ohana,” which is the Hawaiian word for family.
She responded by posting on Twitter, “No words for the love and respect to our son!!! Thank you Mark and Teresa Milton.”