The jolt of hitting the ground stings. The unfamiliar displacement of the knee. The excruciating pain of a torn ACL. This was the reality for sophomore Axavier Green. Green was a Varsity football player who ended his season early due to a knee injury. He excelled on the field right before his world came crashing down.

“My first thought when I hurt my leg was ’Did I just break my leg?’”, Green said, “I tore my ACL and Meniscus, and popped my knee out of place all at the same time.”

Green played football majority of his life and enjoyed the excitement of the game. Green’s injury came in the second half of the Pasadena game of their 2016 season. His first year on varsity, he proved that he was a force to be reckoned with on the field amongst the other seasoned players. Football was not just a sport to him, for he considered it his way out of the hardships life has faced him with. Green continued to play throughout his teen life, and continued to keep his head on straight and his eyes on the prize.

“I feel like the Big Guy upstairs blessed me with being able to play football,” Green said, “I’m playing because I want to take care of the ones who took care of me and this is the way to make it happen.”

During his last football game of the 2016-2017 season, he realized in an instant how quickly a bright future full of endless opportunity could be derailed by months of doctor’s appointments, surgery and painful physical therapy. After falling aggressively Green fell to the ground in pain, tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus.
“I was a very confident player in terms of skill and strength. At the level I felt I was at, injury and failure seemed impossible,” Green said. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘I’m never going to play football again!’ I was frustrated, shattered and even angry with myself.”
Having gone through all the emotional ups and downs of a lengthy recovery from surgery, he was eager to find a way to help other athletes facing the same adversity.
“After tearing my ACL and going through the surgery, I felt for the other athletes that had injured themselves before because they shouldn’t have to deal with this type of pain,” Green said.

“These have been the toughest months of my life,” Green said. “If I can overcome this, I can overcome anything,”

Green attended physical therapy to help with his knee injury. The sessions created a way for him to be able to get back onto the football field in no time. Green has continued to make improvement since being able to get off of crutches and move freely without his knee brace.

“I know that this setback is just a setup for a major comeback,” Green said.