Nick Chubb's journey back to the field recounted in detailed ESPN story

There are few stories in college football this season as remarkable as Georgia running back Nick Chubb’s return from a truly-devastating knee injury.

A workhorse during his career with the Bulldogs, Chubb was chopped down on his first carry against Tennessee last October and tore nearly every ligament in his knee. At first, many lamented the impact his injury would have on Georgia’s season; the tone became much more serious when it appeared Chubb’s injury could change the course of his entire football career.

What followed was an incredible recovery that allowed Chubb to carry the ball 32 times for 222 yards and two touchdowns in Georgia’s season opener, less than a year after his injury.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach published a story on Friday that recounted Chubb’s recovery process in impressive detail.

“Nick is an outlier,” Georgia director of sports medicine Ron Courson told Schlabach. “He’s genetically gifted. He has a tremendous work ethic, and he’s as mentally tough as anyone I’ve ever seen. I’m not surprised he’s back.”

Chubb’s recovery included a combination of several activities that people wouldn’t generally think are involved in the rehabilitation of an All-SEC football player. The junior running back ran on a treadmill underwater, had experimental blood-flow restriction training, used an ice skating trainer and took Tae-Kwon-Do lessons.

“Our biggest issue was slowing him down,” Courson said. “Some people do rehab; he attacked rehab. I told him early on, ‘Don’t come in here and just do your time. Get everything out of it you possibly can.’ He worked so hard.”

That hard work allowed Chubb to get back to his teammates for the start of the season. It allowed him to return to squatting 600 pounds and turning negative plays into massive gains.

Nick Chubb has had some jaw-dropping moments on the field, but his journey back to the gridiron may trump anything he’s done so far.