Reggie Northrup immediately felt a “sharp and aching” pain in his left knee. He didn’t yell, scream or cry, but he feared the worst.

“I just grabbed my knee and I was like, ‘Something’s wrong,’” he said. “It was my first real injury.”

Northrup suffered what turned out to be a torn ACL in the fourth quarter of Florida State’s 59-20 loss to Oregon in the Rose Bowl Game on Jan. 1. But he recovered quickly and was back with the team by the middle of the summer.

Through seven games this season, the middle linebacker leads the Seminoles (6-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast) in tackles. Northrup and FSU will host Syracuse (3-4, 1-2) on Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee.

Immediately after his surgery, Northrup had a moment of uncertainty. He questioned whether he’d ever be the same player.

“But that was probably the only time I had any doubt,” he said. “ … I was motivated. I didn’t want to go out like that.”

The very next day, he began rehabbing the knee and a rigorous process began. Time that Northrup would typically spend sleeping or enjoying free time became hours of rehab.

It included a number of daily strength exercises, such as calf presses, leg presses and squats. He’d also take on different hydrotherapy exercises in FSU’s training pool and regularly received treatment from the Seminoles’ team trainers.

“He’s a guy who worked very diligently in his rehab,” Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher said on Wednesday’s ACC Coaches’ Teleconference. “He didn’t miss a day. Sometimes he was doing multiple rehab sessions per day.”

When he wasn’t busy rehabbing in those early months, Northrup did a lot of “sitting around,” while he knew his teammates were somewhere doing normal workouts.

“I hated it,” he said. “It drove me crazy, man. That’s why I just put the effort in and didn’t cut any corners.”

Within five months after he sustained the injury, he was back on the field participating in summer workouts. According to emoryhealthcare.org, it typically takes athletes between six and nine months before they can return to their respective sports following ACL reconstructive surgery.

Northrup was eased back into the action upon his return. During training camp, he practiced every other day and had to be careful not to push himself too hard, which he said was difficult for him. He wanted to play at his normal pace, but knew he couldn’t.

When the regular season began, Northrup said it took him a few games to get back to full speed and stop thinking about his knee. He played hesitantly, and in the Seminoles’ three games to start the season, he recorded a total of only 16 tackles.

But starting with FSU’s Week 4 game at Wake Forest, Northrup turned a corner and began to feel like his old self. In that game, he had a season-high 10 tackles. His speed, strength and explosiveness were much closer to normal, he said.

Now, a little more than halfway through Florida State’s regular season, Northrup has 43 tackles — the most on the team. But he’s still averaging about two fewer tackles per game this season and after registering four tackles for loss last season, he’s yet to get one in 2015.

With time, Northrup said he hopes to continue making progress. Before the end of this season, his goal is to get rid of his current knee brace and replace it with a smaller one that hinders him less, another step in returning to his former self.

“I’m just getting stronger and stronger,” Northrup said. “I’m coming along good.”

Published on October 28, 2015 at 8:41 pm

Contact Michael: mdburk01@syr.edu