By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — For North Carolina quarterback Max Johnson, stepping onto the practice field Saturday was an answer to prayers. He wondered if that moment was possible as he lay on the field in pain during the opener at Minnesota.
He didn’t know what his injury was, only that it was substantial.
“I remember lying on the field, ticked off that I couldn’t play,” Johnson recalled during a press conference in the Kenan Football Center after his first practice in more than 11 months. “I did all that work last year from January to the season. I just was frustrated that I couldn’t play.”
What happened in Minneapolis last August was more than just a freak injury. Johnson couldn’t tell if it was his knee, femur or something else. But, as athletic trainers helped him off the field, he felt his leg slip and dangle. That’s when he knew — it was a broken right femur.
That’s when the road back began.
He would spend the next several months immersed in rehab, grinding away through seven-day weeks, three-hour sessions, and in complete anonymity in the training room while the rest of the team carried on.
“It wasn’t like there was such a mental block,” said Johnson, who practiced with a sleeve on his right leg. “It was just the daily grind of being in the training room and continuing to work on scar-tissue massages, the stim machines, the running on the water treadmill. It was just the daily grind that helped me get over the mental block.”
Johnson, who called it a “crazy, crazy journey,” thought he was ready for spring practice, but his body told him otherwise. It wasn’t until a few weeks after spring camp that he felt like himself again.
But the physical recovery only scratches the surface. Emotionally, Johnson was plunged into the kind of darkness few athletes face in their careers. At one point, he thought he might lose the leg entirely. Multiple surgeries followed — five in total — and the pain wasn’t just in the bone. It was not knowing.
“Lying there on the bed, not knowing what was going to happen, how long I was going to be in the hospital. I really just didn’t know,” Johnson said.
Confined to a hospital bed in Minnesota for weeks, he couldn’t sit, couldn’t move, couldn’t even take care of himself. He suddenly needed help just to get dressed.
“Fifth year in college, getting changed by my parents,” he said with a mix of humor and humility. “My parents were kind of like my best friends for the first couple of months. I couldn’t do anything.”
There were mental battles. But there was also faith. Through the months of muscle stimulation therapy, water treadmill running and scar tissue massage, he never lost his internal compass.
“I always believed that I was going to be back,” he said. “I set my mind on, ‘I’m gonna be ready for this season.’ ”
He did everything he could to return to football, even when there were whispers about whether he’d ever be the same. Some doctors weren’t sure he’d walk normally again, much less step under center.
But Johnson kept believing.
“Even though it took me a while to start walking, I remember taking my first steps and just being so happy in that moment,” Johnson said.
Now he’s back — not just cleared, but fully participating in preseason camp, taking meaningful reps, and in the mix for the starting job after participating in the Manning Passing Camp with fellow quarterback Gio Lopez.
“I feel really loved and seen, and just very blessed to be here fully recovered,” Johnson said.
Johnson originally transferred to Carolina to play for Mack Brown. But after the injury and Brown’s retirement, the landscape changed. In stepped Bill Belichick. That was reason enough to stay.
“What an honor to play for the best of all time,” he said. “It’s been a great time learning. I’ve learned so much under Coach Belichick.”
Belichick, never one to heap praise unnecessarily, offered a direct assessment of Johnson’s growth.
“It’s that last, call it 20% between not being able to play and really being ready to play,” he said. “At some point, he’s crossed that threshold.”
With kickoff a month away and a quarterback competition underway, Johnson isn’t getting caught up in the moment. He’s focused on consistency — being the same guy every day.
“Don’t get too high, don’t get too low,” he said. “Don’t make the bad plays worse. Take the check-downs when it’s there, take the shot when it’s there. Just be consistent.”
He credits the support of his teammates and family — especially his brother and teammate, redshirt junior tight end Jake — as key factors in staying grounded.
“My teammates kind of had my back,” he said. “Jake was so helpful to me.”
But above all, Johnson returned with a mission bigger than football.
“I learned a lot — just kind of how to push through and remember why I play football. That’s to just give God the glory through what I’m doing,” Johnson said.
There’s a sense of peace in his voice now, and unmistakable joy.
“It was just so joyful to be out there today. I couldn’t stop smiling,” he said of returning to the field. “Man, it just feels good to be able to do it again.”
That first play in a game could be a month away.
Photos by Joshua Lawton
tarheeltribune.com 
4 Comments