Brandon Payne's right knee has healed. More importantly, so has his psyche.
Payne, Akron's senior running back from Woodland Hills, is preparing for his final two-a-day practice sessions this week with a determination to return from a serious knee injury he suffered 10 months ago.
"I always said it was a matter of believing," Payne said.
He's not nervous about returning to the field when two-a-days start Monday. He isn't concerned with that first taste of contact. He's not fazed by juking and cutting on Akron's Rubber Bowl turf as he tries to reclaim his starting job from Bob Hendry.
Independent seven-on-seven drills with Zips teammates twice weekly this summer have built Payne's confidence back to pre-injury levels.
"I've been doing fine as far as catching passes and running the ball," Payne said. "I've been fine running my routes, and everything seems mechanically ready."
Payne's 2001 season ended in the third quarter of an Oct. 6 game on the artificial turf at Western Michigan's Waldo Stadium.
Coach Lee Owens called for a screen play. Payne caught the pass and as he turned, a Broncos safety was waiting for him at his knee. The ensuing contact — a "good hit," Payne said — shredded the ligaments.
Upon contact, Payne crumpled to the turf, oblivious to the noise of the impact, save for a collective groan from the crowd.
Immediately, he knew his junior season was over.
"I didn't hear anything except a bunch of 'ooohs,' " Payne said. "But once I landed, I knew that was the end of my season. There was no pop, just a light little 'oooh,' and I was limping off the field."
Knowledge of an injury is one thing, he said. Acceptance of it is quite another.
For a time, Payne couldn't attend practice — and couldn't bear to watch his Zips teammates' games — because the loss of his junior season was too much to stomach.
"The first part is accepting the fact that you've (injured) yourself," Payne said. "It's a mental thing, and I was in denial for a while. It's more of a mental injury, because it's been known to end careers. I made it more of a mental thing than a physical thing.
"It was just too hard for me to (attend practice), playing a sport that I love and not being able to get involved."
Those closest to him back at Woodland Hills, however, had no doubts he would return without missing a beat.
"He's very optimistic and very positive," Woodland Hills coach George Novak said. "He's one of the best players I've ever coached. He's aggressive. He's a football player. He'll bounce back from it."
Still, Payne had his occasional doubts.
"I got down. … I'm not saying I breezed right through it," Payne said. "There were times when I was down and I didn't want to do anything.
"My main (motivation) was God. That's what really got me through it. My parents (Clarence and Danel Payne) really supported me, and my girlfriend was by my side."
Slowly, Payne began to believe. And in mid-May — on a basketball court, of all places — he became convinced of his recovery.
Payne and Zips quarterback Charlie Frye took a weekend road trip to Frye's Willard, Ohio, home. By Sunday evening, Frye wanted to play some pick-up basketball, and the suggestion rung in Payne's ears.
Though he left his knee brace in Akron, and though he was to visit his doctor two days later, Payne chanced it and played four games of basketball. What he felt was surprising.
He felt nothing.
No pain. No discomfort. No problems.
"Charlie was more nervous than (I was)," Payne said. "But at that point, I knew. Basketball has a lot more cutting and stopping and starting. That was the convincing moment. I always knew I was going to be back. But that moment … that was the deciding moment. I'm here. I'm ready."
So Payne heads into this season eager to reclaim his status as one of the Mid-American Conference's best backs. He averaged nearly 100 yards in each of the five games he played last year, finishing with 498 yards, still second-best on the team.
He has 2,405 career yards (sixth-best in school history) and needs 650 to climb into second place on the Zips' career list.
He's eager to compete with Hendry and Minnesota transfer Marcus Sanders for the starting job, and his main goal for the Zips is to get Akron into the Top 25, a recent neighborhood for MAC teams. Last season, Marshall and Toledo were ranked.
"The MAC has had a few teams in the Top 25, and that's where we want to go as a team," Payne said. "Individually, I just want to play good enough to get a chance at the next level (the NFL)."
And, Payne said, after everything he's been through, he's not going to let anything stop him.
Well, except for one of Owens' pesky play calls.
"The only thing I may have nerves for is that same screen play," Payne said, laughing. "That will be a nerve thing for me."
