Sherrod Greene's Chance To Rewrite His Story
When you play a team sport, whether it's early on in your youth or all way up to the professional ranks, you never want to see your teammate go down with an injury. These feelings can be even more profound when the set of circumstances surrounding the injury is one you have experienced, both physically and mentally.
This is the current situation that inside linebacker Sherrod Greene finds himself going through after it was announced earlier this week that fellow teammate Mohamed Kaba was done for the year after tearing an ACL in the Arkansas game. Despite the melancholy truth that this comes at the expense of his teammate suffering a severe injury, Sherrod will now have a chance to change the narrative of his college football career, one marred by injuries.
A Path Known Too Well
If one player on South Carolina's roster can sympathize with what Kaba and Strachan are going through right now, it's Greene. Greene saw his 2020 and 2021 seasons cut short due to season-ending injuries, 2020 through a hip fracture he suffered against Tennessee and last season after sustaining an ankle injury against Georgia.
Between those seasons, Sherrod missed nineteen total games, and although he came back during spring practice, the defensive coaching staff has worked hard to get him reacclimated. It's been noticeable, however, that Greene hasn't played many snaps this season, which led to speculation that he's been banged up at practice, especially considering the experience he brings combined with the importance of having a linebacker rotation.
Next Man Up
Whether Greene is one-hundred percent or not, he'll now play an essential role in trying to help this defensive front play more sound football, especially in run defense. The Gamecocks need to count on him to play reliable gap control and win his assignment, a rarity for their front seven.
This is never the situation that an athlete wants to have played out for them to see the field, but for Greene, this is his last season in garnet and black; he has a unique chance to rewrite his story.
Greene spoke about what this chance means to him and how he plans to use it during his media availability. He pointed out that this will be a "revenge" game for him, as the sour taste from one year ago has stuck with him.
"It’s motivation for me, especially the fact that I got hurt a year ago against Georgia. It’s kind of a bit of revenge for me. I definitely have a bit of a chip on my shoulder this week."
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