Quarterback Graham Mertz races for a first down at Tennessee before he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the second half. (Photo: Lorenzo Vasquez/UAA Communications)
Mertz Refuses to Let Injury Get Him Down; Plans to Remain Close to Team During Rehab
Wednesday, October 16, 2024 | Football, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Graham Mertz's optimism overflowed three months ago in Dallas at the SEC Football Media Days. Coming off the best season of his career, Mertz shared his hopes of a successful final season and a Gators rebirth.
Mertz was in front of the media once more on Wednesday afternoon. Much has happened in the 90 days since he joined UF head coach Billy Napier and teammates Montrell Johnson Jr. and Shemar James in Dallas.
Mertz suffered a concussion in the season opener against Miami. True freshman DJ Lagway started the second game and shined, with Napier going to a two-quarterback system when Mertz returned. The Gators are 3-3 at midseason entering Saturday night's homecoming game against Kentucky.
What hasn't changed is Mertz, a respected team leader and a true professional who deals with whatever comes his way. Four days after suffering a season-ending torn ACL in his left knee in Saturday's overtime loss at Tennessee, Mertz remained upbeat and determined to help the team any way he can the rest of the season.
"This wasn't really how I saw the end of my career," he said. "The biggest thing these past couple of days, [I] have just been so thankful for the whole experience, so thankful for you guys, for everybody in this building, everything everybody's done to help better me as a player and a person. I'm forever thankful for it."
A sixth-year senior transfer from Wisconsin, Mertz arrived at UF in January 2023 and immediately made a favorable impression. He also turned in a better-than-expected season, leading the SEC in completion percentage (72.9%) while throwing for a career-high 2,903 yards, 20 touchdowns and only three interceptions.
The final play of Mertz's college career was a 13-yard touchdown pass to tight end Arlis Boardingham that put the Gators ahead 10-0 midway through the third quarter against the Vols. However, after the play, Mertz dropped to the turf, hobbled off the field and slammed his helmet to the ground when he reached the sideline.
He knew what had happened but said the injury came two plays earlier when he felt a pop in the knee when he cut his 15-yard run on a third-and-4 play.
"It happened on the initial cut,'' Mertz said. "I kind of jumped into the cut, came out of it, and that's when I originally felt the pop. I thought I just tweaked it because we had a run play the next play, and then a pass play came in. That was when I really felt it, kind of when I drove into it to make the throw.
"I knew I tore it when I was going to the sideline; I just knew it — it felt loose."
Mertz will have surgery in the coming days when the swelling subsides. He hobbled around Wednesday with a brace on the knee and his eyes on rehab.
"Obviously didn't want to go out that way,'' he said. "But that's how the dice rolls. For me, it's something new to attack and get ready for the next step."
Graham Mertz returns to the field on crutches after his season-ending knee injury on Saturday night in Knoxville, Tenn. (Photo: Maddie Washburn/UAA Communications)
Mertz has remained omnipresent inside the Heavener Football Training Center since the injury and is eager to help Lagway prepare and positively influence his teammates as they head into the most challenging part of the schedule.
Meanwhile, Mertz has no plans to mope around and offered perspective on the injury. A call from his former UF teammate, NFL rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall, reminded Mertz that many others have it much worse.
Pearsall was shot in the chest during an attempted robbery in San Francisco on the same day Mertz suffered his concussion in the loss to the Hurricanes.
"Nobody got shot here," Mertz said. "Ricky called me and said, 'Dude, I'm so upset,' and I was like, 'Rick, we're all good, man. God is good. You're good. That's all that matters.'
"I got guys that have done their ACLs and all these surgeries coming up to me and, 'This is what you got to expect, this is what you're going to see,' which for me, it's refreshing just to have that from other guys on the team. It's going to get repaired. I'm going to rehab it. I'm going to be more than fine."
In the hours after the injury, Mertz talked to his parents about the disappointing end to his college career. He also spoke to his sisters. Both his sisters grew up as athletes and suffered torn ACLs. He also got a pep talk from teammate Cam Carroll on the sideline at Neyland Stadium.
Carroll suffered a torn ACL before last season and continues his quest to regain his form. Something Carroll told him prompted Mertz to write the message on his mirror when he got home from Knoxville.
It's going to be hard, but it's up to you to be harder.
Mertz is ready to attack the process. And no doubt, he will do so with the upbeat attitude that has made him a favorite at UF.
"I think for me it's just trying to keep any sense of normal,'' he said. "I've said it before, but I came back to win, and we want to win, and that doesn't change through adversity or an injury. The goal is still to win, so any way to do that, we're going to do it. I think that's why I'm having fun right now.
"In a weird way, I'm having fun. And, honestly, the hardest times are where I learned the most, where I grew the most."
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