Setbacks Don't Deter Terps' Senior
10/30/2007 8:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 30, 2007
By Ben Dooling, Maryland Athletics Media Relations
COLLEGE PARK, MD. -
This article appeared in the Maryland Gameday Program prior to the Virginia game.
It hasn't been an easy five years at Maryland for Jermaine Lemons. The senior suffered two major knee injuries in the past three seasons, but has stayed committed to the program and continued his career despite a long and difficult recovery. For a player who once left the team because he wasn't getting enough playing time, it has been a dramatic transformation.
Lemons came to Maryland a highly touted defensive end prospect out of Thomas Jefferson High School in Tampa, Fla. A four year starter in high school, Lemons recorded 154 tackles and 18 sacks over his final two seasons, and was rated as the 18th best defensive end prospect in the nation by Rivals.com.
After redshirting his freshman season, Lemons felt he was poised to take over the starting job at LEO, and even took reps with the first team in camp that summer. Shawne Merriman won the job instead and Lemons was relegated to the practice squad, a move that surprised and upset him.
Without telling anyone, he caught a flight back home to Tampa, his intention to transfer to another school.
"I wasn't thinking about the whole situation or thinking it out," he said. "It was a stupid decision to make in the first place."
A few days later Lemons was back in College Park, where he rededicated himself to the Terrapin program. Later that year he was named the defensive scout team player of the week for his work in practice leading up to the Duke game, and when Merriman left for the NFL after the season, Lemons moved into the starting role.
The 2005 season opened with a showdown against Navy in Baltimore, a game which Lemons remembers as the greatest of his career. "My family came up from Florida. It was like a perfect day, and I had eight tackles," he said.
Unfortunately for Lemons, he injured his knee against Clemson in the second game of the season, and had to limp through the rest of the year as a reserve. He rehabbed vigorously and played well in spring practice before suffering an even more devastating injury that summer. On a routine play, Lemons tore his ACL, LCL and hamstring on his other leg.
"It was just a freak accident. My foot got caught in the turf," he said.
Lemons missed the entire season, and considering the extensive rehabilitation he faced and the dim prospects for playing time when he returned, few would have been surprised if he called it a career.
"I was a little surprised," said Al Seamonson, the Terps' outside linebackers coach. "Given he was not a starter and was coming off a major injury. It might be a futile effort. Yet he was willing to take that chance, and he was able to persevere and come back and give it one last shot, and right now, we're glad that he did."
"A lot of people thought that was probably the end for Jermaine, but to me he is a guy that's shown great perseverance," Seamonson added.
The very fact that people were telling him how difficult it would be to return motivated Lemons to make the effort.
"Just hearing everyone tell me it was a hard injury to come back from and that I might not be able to do it; that just gave me the motivation to go out and do it.," he said. "I wanted to prove them wrong and prove to myself that I could do it. I know with the help of god I can pretty much do anything that I want to do."
Watching from the sidelines as the Terps won nine games last season, including the Champs Sports Bowl was a tough experience for Lemons, but his friendship with former Terrapin Josh Allen helped him get through the experience.
Allen had suffered a similar injury in the final game of his junior year and missed the entire 2005 season. Allen rehabbed for an entire year and returned last year in a reserve role, a situation similar to the one that Lemons faced after he blew out his knee.
"Watching him rehab, practice, and play last year - that gave me the motivation that I could do that too" Lemons said. "We got real close because we have a lot to talk about and a lot in common. We have the same scar on our leg."
Allen's comeback bid ended in a bowl victory, and Lemons hopes his will as well. So far he's on track. Lemons has played in five of the six games this season, and Coach Seamonson calls him a "valuable asset that we're counting on to come through and help us."
Most importantly the Terps are 4-2 after back to back victories over No. 10 Rutgers and Georgia Tech.
"I'm hoping to play as much as I possibly can and contribute in any way I can," he said. "I want to win these last six games and win an ACC Championship. That's my main focus. I don't know what's going to happen after these six games are over."
