McKenzie Milton returns to the field after a long journey

Florida State quarterback McKenzie Milton returned to live college football action for the first time since a leg injury nearly cost him his career.

Over the past few weeks, Florida State quarterback McKenzie Milton kept telling the media that he just wanted to talk about football, and not the injury that changed the course of his football career.

Tonight, he will get his wish.

While Milton did not get the start for the Seminoles against Notre Dame, he was inserted into the lineup in the fourth quarter. Over 1,000 days since his life changed while at Central Florida, Milton came into the huddle during a college football game.

It looked like he had not missed a single play:

Milton stepped up into the pocket and ripped a throw on an out-breaking route to complete his first attempt since that fateful game back in November of 2018. On that afternoon, Milton went down with a brutal leg injury, suffering artery and nerve damage, a dislocated knee, and torn ligaments. Doctors believed the best case scenario for him was that he would one day walk without a limp.

Not return to the field against Notre Dame, and certainly not like this.

But perhaps we should not be surprised.

“If I’m going to play I’m going to be full-go, I’m going to be better than I was or just as good,” Milton said in an interview with ESPN. “You don’t get what you deserve; you get what you earn, so you’ve got to go get it.”

Milton’s return to the practice field was inspiring for his new head coach, Mike Norvell. “You see the work, but when you know the investment that’s gone into it, and to be able to go out there and just play free and to see the lack of hesitation, it brought a smile on my face,” Norvell said. “Just to be able to have that opportunity, it’s special.”

For some context on his injury, this quote from his surgeon on his chances of ever playing again might suffice:

The crowd certainly reacted to Milton’s return as well:

Oh, and by the way, Milton led a scoring drive that Florida State capped off with a touchdown, cutting the Notre Dame lead to just three points:

Milton finished the drive completing all four of his attempt for 36 yards.

On his second drive of the game, he did this en route to leading the Seminoles to a game-tying field goal:

And yes, to his wish, we’ll be talking about football tomorrow when his name comes up in conversation.