Mr. CFB: Other Sports Feed The Spirit But College Football Feeds The Soul
College football, despite going through some of the most significant change in its history, is going to be okay. In fact, it’s going to be great.
Know why?
It’s because of McKenzie Milton. Or better said, the moment that he gave us all.
My wife had never heard of McKenzie Milton. But when Florida State’s backup quarterback entered the game with Notre Dame on Sunday night, I quickly told her the story. She then became Milton’s biggest fan.
The story was that Milton, when he was a record-setting quarterback at UCF, suffered a horrific leg injury in a game with South Florida on Nov. 23, 2018. The ligament, vascular, and nerve damage to McKenzie’s knee was severe. In fact, the word severe doesn’t begin to describe how bad this injury was.
Dr. Bruce Levy, one of the top orthopedic surgeons in the country, told the Orlando Sentinel that when the damage is this bad, he has two goals: 1) Save the leg; 2) make it possible for the patient to someday walk without pain.
“Anything above that is unknown and in God’s hands,” Levy told the Sentinel.
You’ll notice that Dr. Levy didn’t say anything about playing football again.
After the initial surgery to save the leg, Levy put together three surgical teams in an attempt to return him to football. He was finally cleared to play in October of 2020. He returned to the UCF roster but never saw the field.
Then he decided to transfer to Florida State.
He wasn’t expected to play against Notre Dame on Sunday night.
But then Jordan Travis, the Florida State starter, had his helmet ripped off and, by rule, had to leave the game for one play. Without any warning, Milton’s moment had come. There was no time for nerves. He had worked over two years for this moment.
“It was time to roll,” Milton told ESPN.com. “I really didn’t have time to process any of the emotions or things like that.”
The night already had some drama as it was the first Florida State game since the passing of legendary coach Bobby Bowden, for whom the field at Doak Campbell Stadium is named.
And now there were Milton’s parents in that same stadium as they were processing a whole bunch of emotions. Among them were equal amounts of Joy and Fear.
The same was happening at the Barnhart house and for millions across the country. Consider:
USA Today reported that the average television audience for the Florida State-Notre Dame game was 7.1 million with a peak of 8.8 million. An outstanding television audience for a college game is considered to be 4 million.
Milton’s first play was a 22-yard pass completion thrown right on the money. That play ultimately led to a touchdown. Even though Travis could have gone back in Milton stayed in the game and led Florida State to two scoring drives that sent the game into overtime. And on every snap Milton took, a nation held its collective breath.
There wasn’t a storybook ending as Notre Dame kicked a field goal in overtime to win 41-38. But it didn’t matter.
While it was a great football game, who won or who lost could not have been more irrelevant. What this game did—and what college football always does—was give us moments that will live forever. Here are two:
1) Milton’s parents clinging to each other as the tears flowed and;
2) Travis and FSU coach Mike Norvell as they collectively hugged Milton on the sidelines.
So what is our point?
Other sports are fun and they feed the spirit.
But every damn week, without fail, college football feeds the SOUL.
Andy Staples of The Athletic said it best when he Tweeted the above photo and wrote: “This, right here, is why we love this stupid sport so much.”
So the critics of college football can take their shots. The game’s not perfect. Never pretended to be. Yes, money and the pursuit of money has changed it and will continue to change it.
But you can’t kill it. As long as there are comeback stories like that of McKenzie Milton, college football will continue to thrive.
Note: The above photo is of Florida State quarterbacks McKenzie Milton (10) and Jordan Travis (13) as they embraced head coach Mike Norvell Sunday night in Tallahassee.