Brandon Snyder determined to come back from knee injury
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – At first, and maybe even second glance, you’d never know there was something wrong with Iowa free safety Brandon Snyder.
He blended in well at media day this past Saturday.
Snyder wore his Hawkeye uniform like all the other players. He answered questions from the media for about 30 minutes. And he stood proudly amongst his teammates, showing no signs that that he is currently recovering from one of the most dreaded injuries in sports.
Snyder tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in early April. He said the injury occurred near the end of practice while participating in a routine special teams drill.
As is sometimes the case with ACL injures, there was no pain at first.
“It was kind of weird deal,” Snyder said. “It was a special team drills and one of my last reps at practice. I had a guy locked out in a drill we’ve done a million times before and the knee kind of buckled twice. And I got right up. It didn’t hurt at all. But as the day went on, it kind of started to loosen up a little bit.”
An MRI confirmed the horrible news that Snyder’s knee was in worse condition than the pain would indicate.
The recovery time from an ACL injury depends partly on each individual, but it usually takes at least six months after surgery. Some athletes have returned sooner than that, while others have needed more than a year to fully recover.
Snyder hasn’t ruled out trying to return at some point this season, nor should he. Striving to reach a lofty goal helps to motivate on a daily basis.
“It’s a goal, but it’s not something that I worry about,” Snyder said. “I just take it day by day. You can play like games like that all you want and try to figure out maybe it’ll be this game. But in the end, you have no idea. But you can control what to do today and you can control what to do tomorrow. And that’s kind of the focus right now.”
Athletes and coaches often use the phrase “one day at a time” to describe their approach to getting better or preparing for an opponent.
The phrase fits perfectly for how to approach a serious knee injury. The rehabilitation process can be a slow and lonely grind in which a person’s patience gets tested.
Snyder stays engaged and invested in the team by helping his younger teammates adjust to the college game.
“It’s a long process, a process filed with ups and downs and some days are better than others,” Snyder said. “It’s really helped me just investing in other guys and really trying to teach the younger guys the game of football and everything that I’ve learned.”
Snyder has made considerable progress since his surgery, but his knee is being fixed so it can withstand the physical demands of playing Big Ten football.
“I’m running well right now and just working on strength and running form and stuff like that,” Snyder said.
It would be one thing if Snyder’s goal was only to lead a normal life again. But his goal is to keep playing Big Ten football, which is hardly normal.
The Larchwood native was on course to be a three-year starter at free safety until the injury occurred. Snyder started all 13 games last season and was much better at the end of the season than at the beginning.
He is Iowa’s latest walk-on to thrive at safety under Kirk Ferentz, joining a group that includes Derek Pagel, Sean Considine and Brett Greenwood.
There is no good time for an injury, but at least Snyder’s injury came after he had earned a starting position and shown that he could be effective at this level. He knows that he belongs at this this level and now can use that as daily motivation.
But one person’s loss is also another person’s gain.
Snyder’s injury has created an opportunity for junior walk-on Jake Gervase, who is now listed as the starter at free safety. Gervase flashed during spring practice, including intercepting three passes during the open practice at West Des Moines.
The injury has forced Snyder to look at football from a different perspective. And by doing so, he has learned things that might have eluded him before.
“When you can’t play, your other senses pick up, so you really learn a lot,” Snyder said. “Being on the sideline you start to read things a lot faster because you have so much time off you just pick up a lot of information and knowledge on the defense.”
Snyder said he is at a good place mentally with his recovery. He is also at a good place to receive medical treatment as an Iowa football player.
The medical facilities and the personnel are top notch, along with the supervision provided by the football staff.
A knee injury of this magnitude is serious, but not career-threatening.
Snyder just has to stay the course, follow instructions and trust the people around him.
“You can’t project anything,” Snyder said. “You can’t forecast anything. It’s all about taking today and making the most of it and doing what you can. And that’s what I’ve done the whole process and just hope that rewards in the end.”