Coming off a torn ACL suffered in the spring, freshman wide receiver Adam Randall expects to return even stronger than when he initially arrived at Clemson.
Speaking at a Dear Old Clemson event on Sunday, Randall recounted his initial reaction when he received the diagnosis and alluded to a pair of former Tigers he’s turning to that also suffered torn ACLs in college.
“Probably my first thought was that it was devastating,” Randall said. “As a competitor and an athlete, you want to be out with those guys and just competing. Having that taken away from you for a certain amount of time really makes you appreciate it a lot more.”
“When I heard it, I knew it was a very serious injury, but from the past, being able to hear guys like Amari Rodgers and Deshaun Watson being able to recover from it and do as well as they are now, it gave me a lot of hope. I knew it wasn’t career-ending or career-threatening. You heard ACL 10 years ago, and that would be about a year (to return). You hear ACL now; with recovery and technology, you can get back faster and quicker and come back even stronger.”
The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Randall was one of the Tigers’ standouts during the spring, drawing comparisons to Beaux Collins, Justyn Ross and Sammy Watkins.
While head coach Dabo Swinney and the staff haven’t put a timetable on his return, Randall is excited to take the field in Death Valley for the first time.
“Just being able to run down that hill in front of 80,000 fans, that’s something I’ve dreamed about doing since I was a little boy.”
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