Oct. 17, 2006
Mike Walker is back. Back playing the game he loves. And doing it quite well, considering what he went through over the last 10 months just to be able to run through the Citrus Bowl tunnel with his Golden Knight teammates on Sept. 2 against Villanova in the season opener.
Walker could have easily been in street clothes on that Saturday evening in Orlando, sitting in the bleachers or standing on the sideline, but he wasn't. He could have still been in the thick of the rehab process for the torn ACL he suffered in the regular-season finale against Rice on Nov. 19, 2005.
And by most accounts he probably should have been.
Instead, the 6-foot-2 Golden Knight receiver was decked out in full football pads, donning his gold No. 11 jersey and some shiny white pants, never more ready to catch passes from fellow senior Steven Moffett.
Why was he ready to play? Why did he endure the long hours of rehab, the mental hurdles that come with such a devastating injury?
There was no other choice.
"Mike Walker is a competitor. Mike Walker is a football player, not just a receiver, but a football player," Golden Knight offensive coordinator Tim Salem said. "Anytime you combine a competitor and a football player, you have something special."
That something special is a player who never missed a day of rehab and to his recollection, was never late to a session either. "Sitting on the sidelines watching the two biggest games in UCF history was hard," Walker said. "It was real tough. I knew had another year and I knew I had to come back."
The knee injury that forced him to miss the inaugural Conference USA Championship game and subsequently, the team's first-ever trip to a bowl game - the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl was severe in nature.
"He had a complete rupture of his ACL and he also had a defect in his bone as well," Head UCF Trainer Jeff Allen said. "Sometimes you get what is called a bone bruise and it sounds kind of simple, but it is actually a defect in the bone where the cartilage on the end of the bone kind of chips off, so it was a major deal."
Walker ended up having three surgeries over the course of the month because of extra swelling and an infection he developed while with the team in Hawaii. Those did not deter his commitment though.
"He did great in his rehab, he worked his butt off everyday," Allen added. "You expect guys to have bad days periodically, you expect them to have some setbacks, but he was one of the first ACL's I've been around that did not really have many setbacks and did never really have a bad day."
As the rehab moved along, Walker continued to progress and stay on course for a what Allen termed a "remarkable" recovery. Physically, he was right on path, but mentally Walker endured some struggles.
"I went through a lot of complications, but I overcame all of that," he said. "I lost a lot of weight. I had to get my size back, my strength back and it was a long process, but I came here and worked hard. I didn't know how my knee was going to do, so I doubted a lot if I was ever going to be healthy again. There were a lot of mental hurdles to get through."
Walker managed though and with summer winding down and fall camp set to begin in early August, the first true test was right around the corner. It didn't take long for him to win that battle either. "I came out the first day of camp and felt like the old Mike Walker," he said. "I think the week off before camp really helped out a lot, helped me get my knee back, endurance wise and all that."
The first day of camp might have been what it took to prove to himself that he was back, but his first game action went along way to proving to any other doubters out there that Mike Walker was indeed back to his old form. He hauled in six passes for 77 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the 35-16 victory over Villanova.
It was the third multiple-touchdown game of his career and the Knights improved to 6-2 when Walker scores.
"I think he knew what was on the line in terms of this is his last season and his last opportunity to play here," Allen, who was among those not surprised by Walker's successful return, said. "He came in with the same attitude in rehab that I see him with on the field everyday. He worked really, really hard and, if anything, there were times where we had to pull him back and reign him in."
Opposing teams have also had trouble reigning in the second-team All-C-USA pick from a year ago when he caught 64 passes for 855 yards and nine touchdowns before the injury. In his third game of the 2006 season, Walker corralled a career-high 12 catches for 133 yards and in a thrilling, 23-22 victory over Marshall, he caught his third touchdown pass of the season and finished the night with at least one catch in 21 straight games.
"The whole program helped me out - the trainers, the players, the coaches - they all stayed behind me and made sure I was doing the right things," Walker said. "They told me not to overdue anything. They kept me up, kept me motivated and they believed in me. That was a big part of me coming back."
No one is doubting Walker is back now. His current numbers speak for themselves. He is back and on pace to leave his legacy amongst a talented corps of all-time receiving greats at UCF. But if you ask Walker, he says he is still not `all' the way back. There is one piece of equipment that the Orlando native was wearing on his first trip back through that Citrus Bowl tunnel that when it is gone, Walker will know for sure he is `all' the way back.
"I feel like I won't be where I want to be until I take that knee brace off," Walker added. "When I feel like I can take that off comfortably and not worry about anything when it's off, I think I'll be back where I was."
One thing is for certain, that knee brace does not stand a chance.