By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

University of Central Florida quarterback McKenzie Milton, who suffered a devastating leg injury in November of 2018 and missed the entire 2019 season, says he will return to the field in 2020.

Will he attain that goal? I don’t know for sure. No one does, but Milton believes it will happen. Milton thinks there’s a 50/50 chance he will be cleared and declared full go for preseason camp.

Flashback to November 23, 2018, it was third and 7, Milton was tackled by South Florida Bull’s cornerback Mazzi Wilkens that resulted in the injury. Milton was rushed to Tampa General Hospital for immediate surgery.

The surgeons had to remove the vein from the left leg to make a new artery in the right one in order to restore blood flow and save the leg.

Milton was in surgery for the next 4-5 hours, doctors worked to restore blood flow to his leg to avoid amputation.

The quarterback, who won back-to-back American Athletic Conference offensive player of the year awards previously, has been through at least four surgeries and extensive rehabilitation as he pushes to play again.

Each step in the process continues to reaffirm that Milton will eventually return to the football field.

Josh Heupel, UCF Head Coach, said “Absolutely, there’s no doubt in my mind that Milton will be back on the football field at a really high level.”

In April 2020, prior to the NFL draft, video of Milton throwing to Gabriel Davis hit the internet. It had UCF and college football junkies excited.

In an interview with UCF Rivals’ reporter Brandon Helwig, Milton states, “Playing in 2020 is still my goal. The reason I set that goal is I wasn’t to approach rehab every day with the idea I’ll be ready to go to fall camp ready for North Carolina in our first game. If I’m not approaching it that way, I feel like I’d be missing a day in therapy not working as hard as I can. That’s why I set that goal. I hope to reach that. If I don’t, it is what it is. I’ll keep knocking it down block by block. Hopefully when I go to Minnesota at the end of June, I’ll get good news.”

Milton was one of the best quarterbacks in college football in 2017 and 2018. He was 265-for-395, passing for 4,037 yards, 37 touchdowns and just 9 interceptions.

He also rushed for 613 yards and 8 touchdowns as UCF went 13-0 in 2017 and beat Auburn in the Peach Bowl.

His stats declined during the 10 games he played as a junior in 2018 in coach Josh Heupel’s first year at UCF, but he still threw for 2663 yards and 25 touchdowns with just 6 picks.

He added another 9 touchdowns on the ground and rushed for 297 yards.

In 2019, Dillon Gabriel emerged as the starting quarterback at UCF. Gabriel led the Knights to a 10-3 record while throwing for 3653 yards, 29 touchdowns and 7 interceptions as a true freshman.

Milton draws hope and optimism from people like Joe Theismann, Jaylon Smith and Teddy Bridgewater, people who have been through devastating injuries and gotten back on the field. “People have done it before and I definitely think I’ll be able to too.”

Milton suffered a catastrophic injury in 2018 while owning a personal 22-game win streak. Milton looks like he’s coming back to play. Do not doubt the heart of a Champion!

I, for one, can’t wait to see number 10 run onto the field. When Milton is able to return to the field, it will be one hell of a comeback story.