Aug. 14, 2009
When Osia Lewis was brought in as UTEP's defensive coordinator to instill his attacking 3-3-5 defense, no player on the Miners was set to benefit more than emerging star Braxton Amy.
"Braxton was the first player I thought about when going to this defense," head coach Mike Price said. "He fits the mold of being play the pass, play the run. He is so good at both."
There was just one problem, though, as Amy went down with a season-ending injury during a non-contact drill in spring 2008.
"He just jumped for a ball and came down wrong," Price said. "There wasn't a collision or anything like that."
And in that instant, Amy-who led UTEP in tackles as a sophomore in 2007- went from being the focal point of a new aggressive defensive system to being sidelined with a torn ACL.
"It was one of the toughest things I ever had to go through," Amy said. "I guess things were kind of falling into place coming off my sophomore season. I was bigger, stronger and faster than I'd ever been.
"To have the injury was very discouraging. I was getting down on myself but that's where my teammates came into play. They were key on keeping me around, and set the stage for me to be able to come back and be successful."
A lengthy rehab would ensue, with Amy spending two to three hours a day doing a variety of exercises. He trained with both the UTEP strength and conditioning and athletic training staff. Not only did Amy start to make strides in returning to health, but he also started to see the silver lining with the time off.
"I was able to get a better understanding of the defense," Amy said. "Guys like Da'Mon Cromartie-Smith did a great job of stepping up. Now when I do return, I won't have to be the complete focal point. The more amount of good, quality players we have on the field, the better off our defense will be."
While Amy isn't all the way back-he suffered a pulled hamstring in the weeks leading up to Camp Socorro- the native of Richmond, Texas, is certainly close.
"We may scrimmage him this weekend," Price said. "He is getting better every day. He is practicing with us. He just isn't hitting, tackling or scrimmaging live. He is going to have to do that sometime before the first game."
Miner fans certainly should be excited about the prospect of Amy rejoining the defensive ranks. He contributed 9.3 tackles per game in 2007, which paced the squad and rated tied for 41st nationally, on the way to grabbing honorable-mention C-USA accolades.
Amy has high aspirations for both himself and the team, but given the amount of injuries he has been forced to overcome since arriving in the Sun City in 2006-three different knee issues and a serious shoulder injury to name a few-, he is focused entirely on the present.... for now at least.
"I'm only taking it one day at time," Amy said. "If I can just get better every day until Sept. 5 (season opener vs. Buffalo), then I will be expecting big things out of myself. I just need to knock some rust off myself, and get back to playing football like I'm capable of."
