McKenzie Milton's injury at UCF will go down not just in UCF history, but in college football history. If you don't know the story, we will spare you the details, but give an overview of what happened.
After UCF's amazing 2017 undefeated season where they claimed a National Championship after being the only undefeated team that season, they were primed to do it again in 2018 until disaster struck in their final regular season game.
The Knights were playing their in-state rival USF to finish off the regular season as they did every year. Milton was known for his rushing ability as a quarterback, it was part of what made him so great. The play call was a quarterback run and as Milton dove for extra yardage, the helmet of a USF player took Milton out at the knees, well one knee in particular.
Milton did not get up immediately like he normally would after getting hit, but instead, as the camera zoomed in, it was clear that something was wrong.
His leg was facing the wrong way.
Athletic trainers from both sidelines were quick to get to Milton and figure out what was happening. His teammates dropped to their knees in disbelief at what they just saw. The crowd filled with both UCF and USF fans fell silent as they awaited to see if Milton would come to his feet and walk off on his own power.
That never happened.
Instead, a cart was driven onto the field after several minutes, and Milton was loaded onto the cart, and greeted by his entire team and coaching staff as he was driven off the field, he gave the crowd a thumbs up and it didn't matter if it was a UCF or USF fan, everyone cheered.
Little did everyone know, at that point, it was a race against the clock. As Milton was rushed to the nearest hospital, doctors were worried about blood flow to his leg and at one point, they questioned if they would have to amputate his leg or not.
However, this story does have a happy ending. After numerous surgeries and a few years of recovery, Milton found his way back onto the field, a task his doctors weren't sure was possible.
The goal for Milton was to be able to walk again, but he set his sights on a much higher goal.
He wanted to play college football again.
After his recovery, Milton chose to transfer to Florida State so as not to step on the toes of the current starting quarterback at the time, Dillon Gabriel, who is also a Hawaii native, like Milton.
Milton did see time on the field at Florida State and after making a play for the NFL chose to trade in his cleat for a headset to begin his coaching career. He is currently an offensive analyst for his former head coach Josh Heupal at Tennessee.
However, this brings up a big question.
What would have happened if Milton had never gotten injured?
At the time, UCF had a great backup quarterback named Darrel Mack. Mack had great skills, but he was no McKenzie Milton. Milton also had quite the arc at UCF going from being booed off the field his freshman year to being the savior of UCF's football program.
Milton's injury came so late in the season that Mack did not have a lot of game experience other than coming in late in the game when it was a blowout.
Mack did well in the rest of the game against USF considering what had just happened on the field. Mack also stepped up big in the American Athletic Championship against Memphis. However, the team they were set to play in the Playstation Fiesta Bowl was in a whole different league.
UCF was set to play Joe Burrow and the LSU Tigers in the Fiesta Bowl without their leader, without their quarterback that had led them all single long.
While the Knights held their own for the majority of the game, they fell short of the Tigers. It left a lot of people asking the question.
What if McKenzie Milton had never gotten hurt?
Would the Knights have beaten LSU and had a true shot at going undefeated yet again the next season? Would they have had a real chance at the College Football Playoff? Could Milton have won the Heisman Trophy the following season?
There are so many questions that unfortunately will never be answered, but hey that is sports, it is unpredictable.
However, without thinking about the trophies and the championships, it would have been nice to see Milton not get hurt to see how his life would have been different.
Milton is an inspiration his story will live on to be told for years to come.
From Knight Nation, thank you, McKenzie Milton!