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AUBURN — Champ Anthony's 2024 season couldn't have ended in a worse circumstance.
The Auburn football defensive back was on a tear. In the Tigers eventual 24-14 loss to Arkansas, Anthony had three pass breakups, all of which were the first of his career. He'd also recorded all of those in the game's first 10 minutes.
Then disaster struck.
On his final pass breakup of the day, Anthony was carted off after suffering a leg injury so gruesome the ESPN broadcast opted not to show it. It put a prompt end to his season, but on Monday, he was back and on both legs, detailing his return.
"It's felt like forever, especially going through the season, the height I went out at," Anthony said. "It was real tough to sit down and realize my season was over. But while I was in the hospital, I came to sense with it, and I've just been working on myself mentally, physically, just getting back."
Anthony said that, when the injury happened, his leg was actually facing the opposite direction. There was an understandable shock to it, and that was furthered by how well of a day he was facing. However, the immediate freak-out subsided, largely because of cornerbacks Wesley "Crime Dawg" McGriff, who was one of the first people to speak to him before he got carted off.
"He got in my ear, he told me, 'This is just God's plan," Anthony recalled, adding that his left leg was already dealing with lingering injuries ahead of the Arkansas game, "so it was really the best thing for me."
"Coach Crime just told me, 'You're going come back, you're going to come back stronger," Anthony said. "Just hearing his words when I was down, that's why I was smiling in the pictures. I didn't even cry, because Coach Crime just reminded me, like, you're going to be OK. Like, if you're a dog, you're going to be a dog, regardless."
For now, the recovery process is day by day, Anthony, listening to and doing what his coaches tell. He's hopeful for return to individual work this spring, but his biggest priority? "Just trying to take care of my body," he said.
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at [email protected] or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football's Champ Anthony details return from gruesome leg injury
Continue reading...
The Auburn football defensive back was on a tear. In the Tigers eventual 24-14 loss to Arkansas, Anthony had three pass breakups, all of which were the first of his career. He'd also recorded all of those in the game's first 10 minutes.
Then disaster struck.
On his final pass breakup of the day, Anthony was carted off after suffering a leg injury so gruesome the ESPN broadcast opted not to show it. It put a prompt end to his season, but on Monday, he was back and on both legs, detailing his return.
"It's felt like forever, especially going through the season, the height I went out at," Anthony said. "It was real tough to sit down and realize my season was over. But while I was in the hospital, I came to sense with it, and I've just been working on myself mentally, physically, just getting back."
Anthony said that, when the injury happened, his leg was actually facing the opposite direction. There was an understandable shock to it, and that was furthered by how well of a day he was facing. However, the immediate freak-out subsided, largely because of cornerbacks Wesley "Crime Dawg" McGriff, who was one of the first people to speak to him before he got carted off.
"He got in my ear, he told me, 'This is just God's plan," Anthony recalled, adding that his left leg was already dealing with lingering injuries ahead of the Arkansas game, "so it was really the best thing for me."
"Coach Crime just told me, 'You're going come back, you're going to come back stronger," Anthony said. "Just hearing his words when I was down, that's why I was smiling in the pictures. I didn't even cry, because Coach Crime just reminded me, like, you're going to be OK. Like, if you're a dog, you're going to be a dog, regardless."
For now, the recovery process is day by day, Anthony, listening to and doing what his coaches tell. He's hopeful for return to individual work this spring, but his biggest priority? "Just trying to take care of my body," he said.
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at [email protected] or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football's Champ Anthony details return from gruesome leg injury
Continue reading...
