Step by step, Sprinkle rallies from knee injury
It was barely a push. In football, more violent contact happens multiple times on every play.
But when Bowling Green guard J. J. Beggan extended his right arm and gave a half- hearted shove to Tracy Sprinkle late in the first quarter of Ohio State’s opener last season, he caught the Buckeyes defensive tackle at just the wrong moment. The play was essentially over. Sprinkle was not bracing for contact.
“I was kind of in midstride and the dude pushed me,” Sprinkle said last Friday. “As I landed, I guess all the force went into my leg, and I blew it out.”
Sprinkle crumpled to the ground, his right patellar tendon torn. A season that was supposed to be the culmination of so much work for the Elyria native was over in an instant.
“It was tough,” Sprinkle said. “I can’t lie and say it wasn’t. It was really tough. After the game, we were all in tears in the locker room crying together. My brothers know all the things I went through and all the things I have led them through.”
Players don’t always return from patellar tendon tears. Most don’t, Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson said. But Sprinkle said he is 95 percent healed. The missing 5 percent is only because he doesn’t have the confidence that comes from knowing his knee will hold up in contact drills.
“As far as doing drills and running and anything in the weight room, it’s very good,” Sprinkle said. “But we haven’t put the pads on and gotten physical yet.”
Ohio State’s defensive line, deep and talented, excelled even without Sprinkle last year. Redshirt freshman Dre’Mont Jones took over his starting spot at the three- technique tackle and became a budding star. Others shined when given a chance.
The entire defensive line returns, so an outsider might question whether the Buckeyes need Sprinkle in 2017. Johnson doesn’t.
“We need Tracy Sprinkle,” Johnson said. “We need his leadership and his athleticism and his ability to play on the field. Our players love him. He’s such a great leader.”
He said that stems from Sprinkle’s honesty.
“He wears his pride and his passion on his chest,” Johnson said. “He loves the unit. He loves those guys. The young players, he takes them in, it’s just part of his DNA. There’s nothing he does that doesn’t amaze me.”
After his injury, Sprinkle’s teammates and coaches made sure to include him. He went on road trips. He was a constant presence dispensing guidance during games, in practice and in meeting rooms.
“It helped me heal, being around my teammates and watching them flourish,” Sprinkle said.
He stuck with his rehab, overseen by physical therapist Adam Stewart, even when the results came slowly.
“At the beginning, it’s kind of crazy because you don’t see it and think you’ll never recover,” Sprinkle said. “But Stew was on me every day, ‘ Just keep positive. You’re good.’ Now I’m here and I feel good.”
As crushed as he was when injured, Sprinkle believed it happened for a reason.
“I had to lean on God,” he said. “That’s what got me through it. Something good is coming, to have to go through something that tragic.”
Sprinkle graduated in May with a degree in consumer and family finance. He eventually wants to become a financial advisor. But he said he never considered the possibility of not attempting a return for his final season.
“Every day in the training room, I was determined to get back for this season,” Sprinkle said.
The Buckeyes, and their defensive line in particular, have a chance to be elite. Talented young players will fight with veterans for spots in the rotation. Sprinkle wants to be a part of it.
“I know he’s a little bit nervous,” Johnson said. “He hasn’t been in pads, but I know by the time he gets there, he’ll be fine because he has come a long way.
“Tracy is going to play. We have talented guys, but we’re going to need Tracy to play.”