Former Texas A&M QB Feared He Would Lose Leg After Major Injury

For football fans around the country, despite their love and passion for Saturday's in the fall, it's easy to forget that injuries happen and can, at times, become jeopardizing to the players.

However, that risk nearly became a reality for former Texas A&M quarterback Max Johnson after suffering a gruesome, season-ending injury for the North Carolina Tar Heels last season.

Now, in a heated battle for the starting quarterback position in Bill Belichick's first season in Chapel Hill, the former Aggie hasn't lost sight of how much he has worked to get here.

Working Through Recovery

Johnson came to College Station after spending two seasons at LSU. Due to the limited playing time offered, he decided to transfer to North Carolina, where he would finally win the starting job for the first time since his sophomore year at LSU in 2021.

Finally ready to watch his hard work pay off, he would start the season against Minnesota, but a gruesome leg injury suffered during the game would derail his plans and keep him out the rest of the 2024 season. While speaking to the media during fall camp, he shared some major details about his injury and recovery.

"I couldn't tell if it was my knee, my femur or my leg," Johnson told reporters. "I remember getting up (and) I put my shoulders around the trainers who were carrying me off the field and as soon as I got picked up, my leg kind of slipped out. Kind of felt it dangling. Right then and there I kind of knew it was my femur."

The incident wouldn't be an easy fix either. He said it took more than one surgery to fix his femur and get him ready to compete once again.

"I ended up having five surgeries, It wasn't just the bone part, there were some other things. It wasn't like it was such a horrible, horrible thing."

At one point, he was afraid he might even lose his leg.

"There was a point and time where I thought I was going to lose my leg."

Ready to Compete

Despite the fear Johnson suffered, he kept his leg and has now been cleared at 100 percent for the 2025 season. He is ready to compete to be at the helm once again for the Tar Heels.

"I'm just blessed to be here, to be able to compete. It just feels good to be able to do it again," Johnson said.

Johnson will compete against Gio Lopez, a transfer in from South Alabama, and while the thought around the program is that Lopez will win the job, for Johnson, it's just a breath of fresh air and a reminder to enjoy the game again.