On the morning of Saturday, August 2, it had been 338 days since UNC quarterback Max Johnson played in an organized football game. That night in Minnesota, August 29, 2024, Johnson’s life changed forever on a fateful hit from a Golden Gopher defender, one which left Johnson writhing in pain on the turf.
“I knew it was serious as soon as it happened,” Johnson remembered. “I couldn’t tell if it was my knee or my femur… I remember getting up and putting my shoulders around the trainers who were carrying me off the field. And as soon as I got picked up, my leg slipped out. I felt it dangling. Right then and there, I knew it was my femur.”
His right leg was shattered, an injury so catastrophic it required Johnson to stay behind in Minneapolis for several days and undergo five surgeries. His season was over, of course, and the rest of his football career suddenly looked bleak. There was even a time, Johnson admitted, when he thought he might lose the leg entirely.
But Johnson stubbornly, miraculously, kept working. On social media, he posted several videos of progressively more intense workouts, emphasizing his improving fitness and mobility.
Head coach Bill Belichick provided little insight into Johnson’s health during the offseason, merely saying he admired the quarterback’s drive and that he still had a long road ahead of him.
And yet, as Kenny Chesney’s “The Boys of Fall” blared across a rainy first day of fall training camp Saturday morning in Chapel Hill, Johnson was doing drills with the rest of his teammates, seemingly uninhibited. The song choice, and its opening stanza, felt appropriate:
“When I feel that chill, smell that fresh cut grass/I’m back in my helmet, cleats, and shoulder pads”
Johnson’s participation was a far cry from the scene during spring practice, when all he could do was throw on the sidelines while the other Tar Heels drilled. Belichick seemed pleased – at least, as much as the most famous football curmudgeon of all time can be – with Johnson’s progress.
“It’s a big jump for him in terms of what he’s able to do,” Belichick said. “Although I think the progression is very gradual. It’s one percent at a time, one percent at a time. But he’s crossed that threshold. He’ll be ready to participate out there with all the other players.”
Johnson, who at 24 years old is one of the oldest players on the team, said he felt like a little kid again.
“I was just so joyful to be out there today. I couldn’t stop smiling,” he told reporters Saturday. “I was just so happy to be out there today with my teammates again. I felt like myself again.”
“That speaks a lot to his character,” said cornerback Marcus Allen, who like Johnson started the Minnesota game last August. “Seeing how egregious that injury was, and for him to be able to stay in tune with the team, stay connected with the guys and put in work every day to come back, it’s great seeing him back out there.”
Now, the unfettered Johnson finds himself in a bona fide quarterback competition. He brings in experience at two SEC schools and an unquestionable work ethic, but the elephant in the room remains: what happens the first time he gets hit? He didn’t have to worry about any of that Saturday, as the Tar Heels practiced without pads. But eventually, those pads will be strapped on. And though all UNC quarterbacks wear red non-contact jerseys during drills, no such protections will be available once August turns to September.
One can forgive Johnson, who thought he may not ever walk on two legs again, for not looking that far ahead. He was simply happy to see the fruits of nearly a year’s hard work.
“It’s been a long summer,” he said. “I got after it this summer. Ran a lot, worked out a bunch with [strength and conditioning] Coach [Moses] Cabrera. I think the juice is there. Everybody is excited to be back in Carolina Blue. There’s a bunch of new faces, so I think we’re gelling really well together. I think it’s gonna be a great season.”
Featured image via Associated Press/Abbie Parr
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