In sports, injuries are a part of the game. But it’s the comeback that often comes to define an athlete’s story.
It’s an oft-stated adage that everyone loves a comeback story. Think about Kobe Bryant shooting two free throws after tearing his Achilles. Think about Paul George’s injury with Team USA in 2014. Think about the time Alex Smith broke his right leg in two places.
Many sports fans remember most of these injuries, but the comeback journeys behind the scenes and out of the public spotlight are a reminder of the sacrifice and fortitude athletes must have to make it back to the field.
Those examples bring us to Michael Penix Jr., the 6 foot, 3 inch quarterback from Tampa, Florida who has a history of season-ending injuries throughout his college career. But now he’s just days away from achieving his dream of being an NFL quarterback. Most experts have him as a first or second round draft pick, but the road to get to this point has had many trials and tribulations.
A Three Star Recruit From High School
Michael Penix Jr. grew up in Dade City, Florida, a small town north east of Tampa. As he wrote in an open letter to NFL GMs in the The Players Tribune ahead of this year’s draft:
“I’m a product of Dade City, FL. Population 7,600. No Trader Joe’s, no Whole Foods. No steak houses or country clubs. No personal QB coach, no strength coach, no state-of-the-art training equipment. Nothing about Dade City is luxurious, but that‘s the way we like it.”
According to Penix Jr., the people who come from Dade City were built to withstand the obstacles put in front of them.
“Adversity wasn’t just a buzzword in Dade City, it was in the water,” Penix Jr. says in his Players Tribune article. “Nothing is handed to you, you have to earn everything. If you fall — you get up. Simply put.”
At Tampa Bay Technical High School, Penix Jr. was a three star recruit in the 2018 Recruiting Class. That recruiting class featured plenty of current NFL quarterbacks, including Jacksonville Jaguars starting quarterback Trevor Lawarence and current Steelers quarterback Justin Fields.
During his junior year in 2016, he completed 153 of his 272 passes for 2,078 yards while throwing 31 touchdowns and just one interception. In his senior season in 2017, he completed 129 of his 244 passes for 2,165 yards while throwing 30 touchdowns and five interceptions. He also rushed for 449 yards and two touchdowns while being named the Hillsborough Country Player of the Year.
After initially committing to Tennessee, coaching changes ultimately landed him at Indiana for the start of his collegiate career.
The Trials and Tribulations at Indiana
Most people have never broken or dislocated a bone in their body. Now imagine breaking a bone or dislocating a bone every year for four straight seasons.
Penix Jr.’s freshman year at Indiana was like most three-star recruits who are freshman, as he split playing time with sophomore quarterback Peyton Ramsey. His season, however, would be cut short, as he would tear his ACL in the eighth game of the season against Penn State.
As a redshirt freshman, Penix Jr. would eventually win the starting job, but tragedy would strike once again when he dislocated the sternoclavicular joint in his non-throwing shoulder in a game against Northwestern on November 2, 2019, ending his season. At the time of this injury, the Hoosiers were 7-2, which was the highest win total for the school since 2007, and the team wouldn’t be the same following his injury.
Amidst the challenges of a COVID-shortened season, Penix Jr. returned from injury in 2020 and was leading the Hoosiers from the start, picking up right where he’d left off. Indiana defeated #8 Penn State in the season opener, followed by wins against Rutgers, #23 Michigan, and Michigan State to start off 4-0 and earn a #7 ranking in the AP Top 25 Poll.
By then, it was an unfortunately familiar story when Penix Jr. tore his ACL again in a game against Maryland. At the time, he was a dark horse candidate for the Heisman trophy given that he completed 124 of his 220 passes (56.4) for 1,645 yards while throwing 14 TDs and 4 INTs. He was also named to the All-Big Ten second team. Penix Jr. spoke on that time in his 2024 article for the Players Tribune:
“We didn’t have any drafted offensive players, but we were together, one team, one mission. What we lacked in recruiting stars we made up for in the collective. We believed in each other. We felt like every time we stepped on the field we were going to win. Didn’t matter who we went up against. That’s how we beat Michigan and Penn State and took Ohio State to the brink.”
2021 was Penix Jr.’s senior year, but he still had two more years of eligibility due to his injuries during his first three years. In a 2023 interview with the PAC-12 Network, Penix Jr. discussed his challenges with his mental health following all the injuries suffered the previous seasons.
“There were times when I’d wake up the day of the game and I’d wait until my roommate leaves, and I’d just lie on the floor, and I’d just cry to God, just praying that he’d protect me that day because I knew where my head was at at the time, and it wasn’t truly fresh,” Penix said.
He also said in an interview with the PAC-12 Network that he wasn’t even cleared by his doctor to play in the season opener against Iowa.
“A lot of people don’t know, I was coming back from my second ACL tear, and the Monday of the week of the first game, I get a phone call from the doctor that did my surgery, and he’s like, ‘Hey, you’re not cleared yet from me, but if you wanna play, then you can play,’” Penix Jr. said.
Penix Jr. would only play five games in 2021 before suffering another shoulder injury.
“From getting a shout out from LeBron to being booed in my own stadium,” he recalled for the Players’ Tribune. “From 4th quarter comebacks to entering the transfer portal waiting for somebody to call. Indiana taught me to never take this game for granted. It also taught me that if I fall, I wouldn’t bet against me getting up.”
Penix Jr. would transfer from Indiana on December 5, 2021. Most people would have probably given up on playing the sport they sacrificed their entire life to play at the highest level, so it’s amazing what he did during his next two years.
A New Beginning: Prosperity at Washington
Penix Jr. transferred to the University of Washington in December 2021. Washington was coming off a 4-8 season and they just hired a first-time head coach in Kalen DeBoer. In his Players’ Tribune article, Penix Jr. details the call between him and DeBoer before he officially transferred to Washington.
“Finally Coach DeBoer called. I remembered the success we had when he was my offensive coordinator in 2019…. Now he had just gotten the Washington job, his first shot at a big-time program. He saw something in me that the rest of the college football world didn’t. It was not a popular move. First time Power 5 head coach and the first thing he does is get a QB transfer who wasn’t thought of as a top 100 player in the portal. And so I wasn’t promised anything. Not a starting job, no NIL deal, no special treatment.”
2022 was the building season, but no one expected that Washington would be as good as they were. They finished the season 11-2, and went from being unranked at the beginning of the season to being the #8 ranked team in the nation. Penix Jr. completed 362 of his 554 passes (65.3) for 4,461 yards while throwing 31 TDs and 8 INTs. He also finished 8th in Heisman voting, was named to the All-Pac-12 second team, and was awarded Comeback Player of the Year by the Associated Press.
Going into his last year, Washington was poised to challenge for a Pac-12 title with Penix Jr. at the helm, and that they did. Washington started off the season ranked #10 in the nation, and after five straight wins, they faced #8 Oregon in their first test as the #7 ranked team in the nation. It was a back and forth game, and the game literally came down to the final play, as Washington defeated Oregon 36-33 in their first marquee test of the season. The Huskies would continue to dominate the rest of the season, defeating USC, Utah, Oregon State, Oregon again in the Pac-12 Championship, and Texas in the Sugar Bowl to play Michigan in the National Championship.
Although the Huskies lost the National Championship, Penix Jr. had an amazing season, as he completed 363 of his 555 passes (65.4) for 4,903 yards while throwing 36 TDs and 11 INTs. He was named to the All-Pac-12 second team for the second team, was named as a First Team All-American, was named the Maxwell Award Winner, and finished second in the Heisman vote.
In his Players Tribune article, Penix Jr. thanks everyone who has helped him throughout his journey:
“Today I look at Coach Kalen DeBoer, Ryan Grubb and Nick Sheridan. The ones that had to make the same decision that you’ll be faced with on draft day. They put their belief in me, and I did everything I could to pay it back to them.”
On the cusp of the NFL Draft, what Michael Penix Jr’s story means to me
The Players Tribune article I referenced throughout this story was written by Penix Jr. himself in a letter to NFL GMs on April 22, one day before I actually wrote this article. The reason why Michael Penix Jr.’s story resonates with me so much is because I love a good comeback story. Kobe Bryant, Alex Smith, Paul George are three of my favorite athletes because they could have easily retired after the injuries they suffered.
All the injuries, setbacks, and obstacles ultimately led to the comeback story we have seen the last two years, and most likely, the NFL. I connect with his story of perseverance, but from an academic perspective. I applied to Howard University two times, once in February 2019 as I was graduating high school, and the other time as a junior at California State University Dominguez Hills in February of 2020. I got denied both times, and for me, Howard was my dream school because of all the family and friends that attended and graduated from the university. With some convincing from my cousin, I applied a third time, and I was accepted into the university in December 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I could have just given up and said it’s not in the cards, but this university holds so much weight in my family that I couldn’t have not applied a third time. Going back to Penix Jr., his story is just beginning, although everyone wants to bring up the injuries he’s suffered his first four years. Within the Players Tribune article, he writes,
“Truth is, I’d be more worried if I had never been injured. We don’t all come back the same. I can’t speak for those that have never gone through anything. But I can speak on me. I’ve seen how deep my foundation is. I know the storms I’m prepared to weather. For most people that’d be the end of their story. But there’s more to my story, and I own every page of it.”
About The Author
George Hamilton III is a graduating senior at the illustrious Howard University majoring in Broadcast Journalism, pursuing a career in sports media as a writer or as an anchor. While at Howard, he wrote for magazines and newspapers such as HU News Service and 101 Magazine, as well as for his own website. George has a passion for writing and conversing about sports, as he has been able to work with the Washington Wizards and Washington Commanders. During the summer of 2022, he was a non-scripted TVproduction intern for SMAC Entertainment, the company that executive produces Coach Prime. George is an NBCU Academy x NFL Experienceship student journalist who received behind-the-scenes access to NFL gameday operations at the Miami Dolphins vs. the Washington Commanders in Landover, MD.