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HANOVER – When Dartmouth College football faced the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in 2019, two Big Green players entered the pitch for the last time this season.
Cornerback Isaiah Johnson, who unknowingly suffered a broken hair in Dartmouth’s previous game against Colgate, felt his leg break during warm-ups. He had broken his fibula. During the game, running back Zack Bair tore two ligaments in his knee and also suffered damage to the MCL.
When Dartmouth (2-0) takes on Penn (1-1) in Philadelphia on Friday night, the game will have meaning for both players, now seniors.
Bair, who grew up in Rumson, NJ, less than two hours from Philadelphia, tries not to focus on it, but he knows it will be meaningful.
“I’m just trying to get into it (like) any other Ivy League game. But obviously there’s a little part of me that wants to play a really good game at this stadium, ”said Bair. “I have a lot of family members who come for the game. My family has been so supportive of me, so for all of them to be there to see this, (after) almost a full two year process, it’s going to be very emotional.
Both players left campus and returned home after confirming the injuries. It started a tough recovery period.
While the injuries were different and had different timelines – Bair’s required longer rehabilitation – the processes were similar in some ways.
After undergoing surgeries – and for Bair, giving the MCL time to heal on their own – they donned crutches, casts, and later walking boots. Johnson said he lost his boot eight weeks after his injury, but that was just the start.
Both players had to work for months to be able to walk and run again. At first, Johnson would go through a list of exercises and stretches before and after workouts while working with coaches. He went into hyperbaric chambers and did all he had to do – or went wherever he needed to go – to rebuild his strength and movement.
But the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has changed things. Gyms and facilities closed and Johnson lost access to a lot of the things he relied on to come back.
He took matters into his own hands.
“My dad and I built a gym in my house,” Johnson said. “We bought a (weight) rack, built it by hand, built a few other different systems and things in our basement. So I would go over there and get down to business.
Bair also worked with a home trainer. While away from campus and the team, the Dartmouth coaching staff didn’t worry about working with outside specialists as long as they were on the same page with what they were doing. athletes.
Johnson and Bair both knew the importance of each day while recovering from serious injuries. Missing a day of rehab or a workout is one more day than they should wait to be in great shape again.
Dartmouth’s director of strength and conditioning, Spencer Brown, knew they were both putting maximum effort into their regimes.
“For these two gentlemen, there was never any doubt that they were working because you knew their character,” Brown said. “You knew who they were as people, that they were going to work hard and come back ready to go and prepared. They both figured out what it took to get back to where they wanted to be, and then some.
The rehabilitation process was taxing on Bair and Johnson, both mentally and physically. Their checkpoints were similar, although they came at different times. Just being able to walk again was important.
For Johnson, he didn’t feel like he had accomplished anything, but he said, looking back, that he took those moments for granted. He didn’t recognize the progress he had made until he was able to sprint and cut as usual – milestones for both players.
Bair, like Johnson, didn’t commemorate every milestone along the way. He said he started to feel good about a year after the injury, but still felt pain when running and cutting.
He knew he was doing better once he got back to training at full speed. But there wasn’t a specific moment when he realized he had recovered.
“He was slowly testing it day in and day out,” Bair said. “(It was going an) inch further, a little faster, cutting a little harder every day until I felt like I was back to where I was before.”
Johnson was convinced he would have been ready to play if Dartmouth played in 2020. Bair said it would have been a close call, but he would have pushed him if he had tried to play.
The canceled season following the COVID-19 pandemic gave both players more time to complete their recovery and improve beyond their pre-injury capabilities.
When they first started training – Johnson in April for spring training and Bair in August for preseason – it was memorable. Johnson called it one of the happiest times of his life. Bair felt like he had something to prove, but felt an overwhelming excitement at the thought of playing again.
Equally important was Dartmouth’s opener at Valparaiso.
“I couldn’t stop smiling. I felt like a kid in a candy store, ”Johnson said. “I love this game, and having it taken out for two, almost three years because of the injury and COVID has been really hard on me. Football has always been my sanctuary, but it was really that feeling of heaven or of nirvana when I walked on (the field).
Both players are now starting in key areas for Dartmouth. Bair is Big Green’s running back, in an attack dominated by the running game. And Johnson is a starting outside cornerback.
Head coach Buddy Teevens said the two are naturally seen as leaders now, due to their seniority and the hardships they have endured. But he said they rarely, if ever, broached the subject; their teammates know it.
“When something bad happens guys (are) sensitive and they realize it, and they see how hard people were working to come back,” Teevens said. “They don’t need to talk about it a lot. It’s just shown by action, and the results have been as good as they’ve ever been.
Seth Tow can be contacted at [email protected].
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