University of North Carolina Athletics
Perkins Makes Remarkable Recovery
December 20, 2001 | Football
Dec. 20, 2001
If determination was the name of the game, then senior defensive tackle Anthony Perkins would be the star.
Prior to the 2001 season during a spring practice, Perkins heard something no football player ever wants to hear. While involved in a special teams drill his right knee buckled he heard a snap. He tore the MCL and PCL and did damage to the posterior capsule.
Doctors told him he would most likely miss the entire 2001 season, thus ending his Carolina career a year short. For a normal athlete, this would have been devastating news, but not for Perkins.
"It was discouraging since I had never suffered a major injury like this before and it kind of shocked me because I had never realized something like this can change the whole momentum of a college athlete's career," he says. "I sat down and thought about it for a minute, but I didn't let it get me down too long."
Perkins was determined to do whatever it took to get back out onto the field.
"I think it's just my nature," he says. "I would not have been satisfied unless I tried to make an effort to come back and play. If I had decided to never come back and play again, I would have questioned myself for the rest of my life. Just being able to get rid of that doubt was my biggest drive."
Trying to achieve small victories everyday was what kept Perkins going throughout his hospital stay and during his rehabilitation. He also credits his success to his teammates and physical therapist. The best advice he received while he was recovering was from his position coach, Rod Broadway.
"He (Broadway) had been through a similar injury and he told me up front that no matter what I do, I couldn't let it eat away at me emotionally or mentally," says Perkins. "If I had let it do that, then everything else I had done would have been in vain. If your mind is not prepared to take on what's coming, then your body is not going to follow suit. Coach Broadway standing in my corner, motivating me and letting me know that I need to be mentally tough throughout this whole ordeal helped me get to where I am now."
Since he began playing football in seventh grade, Perkins' dream was to play football at UNC. It soon became a reality. He was a walk-on for two years before earning a scholarship prior to the 1999 season.
"I don't think it has all sunk in yet," Perkins says. "I always thought that if I kept working hard and practicing hard things would continue to get better. Things are supposed to get better and workout this way. But I really haven't looked back at it yet in hindsight and said this is really cool. It just seems natural to me."
Perkins sets an example for his defensive teammates and other walk-ons with his positive attitude about playing. He understands that everybody does not get the chance to experience playing a game that they love. Therefore he gives advice to those who are fellow walk-ons.
"The key is just to keep working," he says. "Good things are always going to happen. Sometimes you may feel that your work is in vain or things just are not going your way, but there are tough times for everyone and you just have to remember that you are out there to have fun playing a game.
"The feeling of being able to wake up on a Saturday knowing that you are going to play a game...that feeling is irreplaceable."
Not only did Perkins emerge as a starter last season, he also emerged as a leader on the team and a role model to many fans who watch the game from home.
"I think he is a tremendous example of what somebody can do when they put their mind to it," says head coach John Bunting. "He is a very special human being. Not many people could have overcome what he did and I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. I have been around many athletes in my career and I do not think anyone has done as well with rehab as he has done this year and I am tremendously impressed with his work ethic and determination. He is the best role model for the team."
As far as being a role model, Perkins feels that, "it is important for me to be a positive influence on someone because it is kind of a responsibility because I am a college athlete and people see me on TV. Kids look up to me as though I was superman or batman because to them I am doing something that they dream or hope to do."
Perkins hopes to one day have a future in coaching football to kids of all ages. Using the determination that he has shown with this team, he will have a successful career no matter which path he chooses in life.
