Good news for Florida Gators: He is back

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — After an overcast-turned-sunny early November contest, the Florida football team crawled out of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, having just suffered a disheartening late-season loss. Failing to secure bowl eligibility against Arkansas and facing a difficult final stretch of games, UF faced a challenging path to close the year.

For one Gator, though, the late-season game marked a moment of great pain and, now, growth.

Since he first put on the pads, Florida linebacker Jack Pyburn had never stepped away from football for an extended time. Possessing a love for the competitive pastime, Pyburn’s life revolved around America’s game, spending hours perfecting his craft to assist the Florida team. That was until the Gators’ Week 10 meeting with the Razorbacks.

On what was a routine play in the third quarter of the critical contest, Pyburn did what he had trained himself to do: make a play. Getting his first start of the 2023 season, the junior went down while attempting to make a tackle and remained on Steve Spurrier-Florida Field. After struggling to walk off the turf, Florida announced that Pyburn had a torn ACL only days later.

The typical recovery timetable for a knee injury of Pyburn’s sort is eight to 12 months, with NFL stars like Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski each taking well over nine to return. While challenging to remain away from the sport he cared so deeply about, Pyburn was never fearful of the daunting recovery schedule that loomed.

“The rehab wasn’t the hardest part for me, just because, in my opinion, it’s a mentality thing,” he said.

Pyburn’s “mentality” allowed him to do something over the next half-year that would be awe-inspiring to most but not himself.

“I told my trainers that I wanted to do it faster than anybody’s done it and do it better than anybody’s done it,” Pyburn said.

He kept his promises.

Following surgery in December, Pyburn began to attack the rehab process in a way that caused his trainers to encourage him to take a step back. Waking up at 6 a.m. daily throughout the Gators’ offseason, Pyburn swam twice a week, climbed stadiums at a disturbing frequency and participated in yin yoga sessions. He credits yoga with loosening his injured joint, but, at times, it occurred virtually to avoid embarrassment.

“I didn’t want to look like a fool,” Pyburn joked.

Leaning on the guidance of the Florida training staff, Pyburn took the situation and went to work.

“Every single hard challenge in your life is thrown at you for a reason,” Pyburn said. “If you approach it like, at the end of the day, ‘I’m going to come out better than where I was before,’ life gets a lot simpler.”

While many athletes facing a similar injury as Pyburn would have to commit all their efforts to mending, Pyburn viewed his injury as an opportunity. The junior couldn’t spend his days on the field any longer, giving him more time to focus on other aspects of his game.

Honing in on little pieces of his technique, such as having more physicality and bend, Pyburn used the additional moments he received as best he could.

“With my injury, I had time to work on a lot of my weaknesses that I thought I had,” Pyburn said. “[I] approach everything like [I] need to get better, no matter what the situation is.”

And get better, he did.

Coming back this season, Pyburn has nearly eclipsed his tackle total for the 2023 season through only four games this year. Additionally, the linebacker noted that most of his weight-lifting numbers improved after rehab, attributable to his work ethic and Florida’s revamped strength and conditioning program.

Even with all of his improvement during recovery, Pyburn emphasized that the process wouldn’t have been possible by himself.

“I have a lot of amazing people in my close circle that encourage me positively every single day,” Pyburn said. “I have those moments where I’m down, unsure, and having those people in my corner … to keep pushing me even when those days are hard.”

Returning during the summer, Pyburn completed rehab in nearly six months. This didn’t surprise him, though. He explained that he had only missed one game in his football career previously, and in that instance, he returned from a projected six-to-eight-week sidelining in two.

While being back and playing for the Gators, Pyburn still believes there’s more to improve.

“Even now, like every single day, I feel like I’m getting better,” Pyburn said. “I can tell you, from the start of the season, even from game one, that my body’s made a huge jump.”

His teammates explained that his continued improvement is due to how he attacks football.

“Aggressive,” linebacker Grayson Howard responded when asked to describe Pyburn. “Very aggressive.”

His passion is distinctly noticeable in his effort level, but it also shines through when he speaks about the sport he plays.

“I love football. You know, it’s my favorite thing in the world. It’s my peace. It’s my happy place. And when I’m out there, there’s no better feeling,” Pyburn said.

The junior’s positive attitude and vigorous work ethic carried him through rehab quickly and strongly, and now that he’s back on the field, his value to Florida’s team is exceedingly clear.

“He makes everyone around him better,” Florida head coach Billy Napier said. “That edge rubs off on the rest of [the team] … we need more like him.”