Wednesday afternoon was an emotional one for the friends and family of Jace Robinson, who signed a letter of intent to continue his football career at Abilene Christian University close to eight months after breaking his right leg in the Tiger season opener on Aug. 28, 2020.
“It’s pretty relieving to be honest,” Robinson said Wednesday, “After going through this kind of traumatic injury and (having to) get back on my feet and rebuild. Just knowing that I get another chance, that means a lot to me.”
Going into August, interest in the RHS senior was starting to grow with Division I programs like Valparaiso offering him a scholarship. But with the season-ending leg injury, interest in him waned and Robinson had to pursue schools for a scholarship.
“It was definitely different because I had to reach out to the coaches,” he said. “It was kind of backwards (because) after I broke my leg, a lot of people gave up.”
“I had to (direct message coaches) on Twitter and be persistent,” he added.
The senior said that even with his misfortune, Abilene Christian kept in touch with him and saw his recovery process, which Robinson thinks helped him out.
RECOVERY—His dad also spoke about his son’s recovery process.
“At first, he had to learn how to walk without crutches and it seemed like that happened so quickly,” Robinson said. “It gave us that feeling of ‘man, you’re going to get to play’.”
“(But) from there it really seemed to drag out. Every step he took, he described it as a nail being driven through his leg.”
Eric explained how the rod placed in his son’s leg provided instant stability making him feel like he wasn’t reliant on the broken leg bone. But after that first step, he had to use that leg to move.
“We could tell when (Jace) ran he would wince with every step and we just knew it wasn’t going to happen,” Eric said. “And then it turned back into ‘is he really going to be able to do this?’ ”
Robinson started practicing track at Thorndale High School, where he enrolled in December. In the middle of January, he couldn’t even sprint 40 yards. But two months later, he saw a mountainous leap, running a 23.6 as the second leg of the Bulldog 4x200-meter relay team at the Thorndale Relays on March 18.
“That was the first time we’d seen him sprint since August,” Eric said. “Going through that long process and then finally seeing that and the realization of ‘man, he’s still there’.”
“(He) still doesn’t have the strength or the speed that he used to have, but now we know that he can still compete at a high level,” his dad said.
Tiger head coach Jacob Campsey had compliments for Robinson, who was amazed that he had made it to that point.
“It’s not typical for someone to shatter their leg about as badly as you can,” Campsey said. “Then six to seven months later, go on to play major college football.”
“He fought a lot of pain, had a whole lot of uncomfortable moments to do what he needed to do to get someone to look at him. He shouldn’t even be running,” Campsey said. “It’s just remarkable really and speaks to the grit and determination; that he wanted something and (that) he wasn’t going to be denied it no matter what happened.”
“He’s hoped for this moment since he was 12 years old and to have this opportunity, especially after breaking his leg at the beginning of the season when we didn’t know if he was going to get to play again,” Eric added. “Just to be at this point right now is amazing. We’re humbled, grateful and blessed.”
Jace said ACU coaches and training staff are also keeping close tabs on his recovery process, making sure he is healthy as he goes through summer workouts.
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