Kennedy: Milton's comeback exemplifies power of sports

With a 22-yard pass on Sunday night, FSU quarterback McKenzie Milton completed one of the most improbable comeback stories that could ever be fathomed. 

No, Florida State wasn't able to complete the upset of No. 9 Notre Dame. The Noles lost, as so many expected. But when the clock hit zeros in Tallahassee, the result was the last thing on most viewers' minds.

Let me take you back nearly three years ago. It was Black Friday 2018, Milton and his UCF squad were in the midst of the longest winning streak in college football. The Knights headed down to Tampa to face my alma mater, USF, in the annual War on I-4 rivalry game. 

It was early in the second quarter when Milton ran the ball toward the sideline and USF defensive back Mazzi Wilkins slid in to make the stop. Almost as soon as Milton fell to the ground, Wilkins threw his hands onto his helmet in dismay, the entire USF athletic training staff rushed out to the UCF quarterback, both teams fell to a knee and Raymond James Stadium became a cavern devoid of sound. 

Milton looked up and saw his leg dangling in the air. It was bent at the knee at essentially a 90-degree angle. The bone was severely out of place from the hit. Trainers couldn't feel a pulse at his foot. The hit tore his popliteal artery and there was no blood going to the lower half of his leg. He was rushed to the hospital where surgeons had to take a vein out of his left leg to literally create a new artery in his broken right one. They were able to save his leg by the slimmest of margins. For days he couldn't feel his toes and nerve damage persisted over the next few years. 

I will truly never forget this day. I was a student assistant with the USF football team during my time on campus, working closely with the sports medicine department. Being on the sideline week in and week out, you see a ton of devastating injuries. I graduated just before that football season, but many of my former coworkers and close friends were still on the sideline that day. A few of them called me later that night because they just needed to vent about what they saw. They said it was one of the most horrific things they ever witnessed. Even as I watched from a TV thousands of miles away, the image is still seared into my memory. 

But even that catastrophic injury wouldn't bring Milton down. About a year after his injury, he wrote this in a personal essay to ESPN. 

"I feel like I got hurt for a reason. Something good's going to come out of it." 

At first, he said it felt like running a mile just to walk 10 feet. Still, he remained with the UCF football program and started mentoring the younger quarterbacks and was always rehabbing like a maniac. Whenever his knee could handle it, he was in the training room or the weight room trying to get his leg back into playing shape. 

But to think that would ever play again was a pipe dream. After all, his leg was barely salvaged and when asked if he ever had a chance of playing again, Dr. Bruce Levy, one of Milton's surgeons, said this. 

"I'm not saying it's impossible, but I'm not aware of anyone that's done it." 

After two years of constant work, countless surgeries to repair his leg and the ever-present dream to get back on the field, he was finally cleared to play in late 2020. The quarterback from Hawaii transferred a few hours north from Orlando to Florida State in the panhandle. 

He battled with Jordan Travis for the starting role, but lost the competition in fall camp and was named the backup. That's why Milton wasn't seen until the fourth quarter Sunday. A fluke play knocked Travis' helmet off his head, forcing him to exit the game for a snap.

That's where we pick up our story with the 22-yard pass. 

It was the first time Milton stepped on a football field for game action in 1,011 days.  Spectators thought it would be a fleeting moment, a one-play appearance until Travis got his lid back on. But it turned into so much more.  

He entered the game to thunderous applause from the Doak Campbell Stadium crowd. When the ball hit Ja'Khi Douglas's hands at around the 30-yard-line, ESPN play-by-play man Joe Tessitore announced with authority "welcome back to college football," and sports fans around the country, including myself, got a little teary-eyed. 

His dart of a throw earned him more playing time, eventually leading Florida State to a touchdown on that drive and to a 10-point comeback, forcing overtime with the Irish. When most starting quarterbacks would be frustrated they lost their chance to play on such a fluke, Travis was one of the first people on the sideline to greet him with a huge smile and gave him a love tap on the helmet. 

“That makes me so happy,” Travis said after the game “I can’t get the smile off my face. Just seeing someone that’s been through so much come back and be able to perform that way. To see him run out on the field, that gave me chills.”

Moments like that are why we invest so much of our time and energy into trivial contests to see who can get a ball into a painted area of grass. It doesn't matter if Milton or Travis take the reins of the Seminoles offense for the rest of the season and it's inconsequential that they couldn't pull out the win. 

His journey is not only a testament to his determination, but to the power these silly little games can have. Some stories in sports transcend fandom and bring fans of all affiliations together for something bigger. Whether you bleed garnet and gold or you're a lifelong FSU hater, it didn't matter.  

Because on Sunday night, just for a moment, the whole world was rooting for Florida State and McKenzie Milton.

—Contact Assistant Sports Editor Will Kennedy at Will.Kennedy@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @ByWillKennedy and Facebook @Holland Sentinel Sports.