Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
PAINFUL JOURNEY IS COMPLETE
UCF senior left tackle Wyatt Miller made his way back to the Knights’ bench following yet another successful drive against Navy Saturday that reached the end zone.
Scoring is nothing out of the ordinary for the Knights, but as he sat down, Miller saw something he didn’t expect: sophomore guard Samuel Jackson was next to him, sweating.
“Did you just go in?” Miller asked.
“Yeah,” said Jackson. As he wrapped his linemate in a hug, Miller told Jackson two words he’s been waiting and working toward hearing for about seven months: “Welcome back.”
UCF’s victory over the Midshipmen was its ninth of the year, but it was Game 1 for Jackson, who had been away from the field since spring ball due to a torn ACL in his right knee.
“It felt great, honestly,” Jackson said about his 2018 debut. “... I was a little nervous when I first got out there, but after that first play, it was like I was back in it.”
Jackson said his teammates were ecstatic after the game that he was out there with them. Coach Josh Heupel said he thought Jackson appeared to be in midseason form by the end of the Navy game. Jackson, who played along the front line in all 13 games as a freshman last year, appreciates the compliment. But he aims to be better. “I wish, obviously, that I was able to play throughout the entire season at the level where everyone else is at right now,” he said. “But I would say that I did OK compared to my standards.”
OK will have to do for now. It’s better than where Jackson was back in the spring when he blew out his knee during a practice.
“I was pretty emotional. I was upset,” Jackson said when asked how he felt upon receiving his diagnosis. “But I really didn’t linger on it too long.
“[The medical staff ] told me how long it would take. After that, it was just you’ve got to get back on the horse and work to come back.”
That’s what Jackson did. He fought through the daily struggle of his rehabilitation process. He admits it wasn’t easy, but his competitive nature pushed him to do whatever possible to ensure that his return to the field would come as soon as possible.
And when he wasn’t busy improving himself physically with the team’s sports performance staff, Jackson was involved in every offensive line meeting, keeping himself in tune with what the group was trying to accomplish against each opponent.
Jackson’s dedication in all facets of his recovery didn’t go unnoticed.
“He worked unlike anybody to get back on that field,” Miller said of Jackson. “You can tell that his love for the game is immaculate. He did what it took to get himself in a position to be able to play again, and I’m so proud of him.”
It culminated last week when Jackson, who practiced with the second-string offense in the lead-up to the Navy game, was told by his coaches that he would be making his comeback that weekend.
One of his first plays on the field resulted in the touchdown that prefaced his encounter with Miller. It was a 34-yard pass to Dredrick Snelson, and if there was any doubt about Jackson’s right knee, he quashed it at the end of that score.
“I was actually the only one who went down there [to the end zone] if you look back at the tape. There was one other receiver and I was the only lineman,” Jackson said in a playful tone, but also with a hint of pride.