The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1538921
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025 ■ 27 spearheading the team's run-stopping forces, while quarterbacking the unit as the "green dot" player designated to wear the in-helmet earpiece to relay the play calls. But in an early-week practice ahead of the Wolfpack's Week 7 tilt with Syracuse in mid-October, a routine drill turned costly. Fordham was battling tailback Jordan Waters in a one-on-one pass-rushing drill when he tried to spin around his teammate. Waters pushed Fordham's shoulder, prompting the linebacker to plant his foot. With his leg firmly an- chored in the turf, his knee continued to rotate. That's the moment when Ford- ham's season ended. The Ponte Vedra, Fla., native felt a pop in his leg as he hit the ground. The ini- tial sensation sent a wave of fear through Fordham's mind, but he got up and walked off the field. That seemed like a good sign. Soon enough, though, Fordham's knee began to swell. The worried thoughts re- turned, and medical imaging later con- firmed his worst fears: He had suffered a torn ACL. The injury ended his breakout season just about halfway through. "It was a freak incident," Fordham said in July, looking back on that fateful day during an appearance at the ACC Kickoff media gathering. "Just two guys compet- ing. It happens. That's what you sign up for when you play football. It's a tough sport, but I love it." It's now been eight months since Ford- ham's 2024 campaign came to a screech- ing halt. He was cleared for full contact ahead of fall camp and began preparing for his graduate season with the Wolf- pack. Road To Recovery Standing on the sideline isn't what Fordham is accustomed to, but the knee injury left the Wolfpack's star middle linebacker with no choice. Although it wasn't the best scenario for him to be in, he was motivated to hit the field as soon as possible. Fordham tore his ACL on his father's birthday. That made for what he called a "rough phone call" home in which he shared the bad news with Todd Fordham, a nine-year NFL offensive lineman with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Pittsburgh Steel- ers and Carolina Panthers. At the time, Caden felt like he had disappointed his father and the rest of his family when he suffered the first major injury of his foot- ball career. But it also served as a motivator to come back even stronger. "Just knowing how much my family poured into me and their support after I got hurt, I knew everything would be okay," Fordham said. "I felt like I let them down, in a sense, even though there was nothing I could really do to control it. I just knew from that day forward there was nothing that was going to stop me from going where I wanted to go. I put my head down, continued to work and heal my knee." Fordham brought a determined atti- tude to his rehab work inside the Murphy Center, located just a short walk away from the practice field on which he had been hurt. While it was a grueling pro- cess, Fordham was determined to beat whatever timeline the training staff gave him. In the months that followed, he pushed to take part in more physical drills, even though the trainers were adamant about Fordham taking his time. In addition to his physical training to get back in the middle of the Wolfpack defense, he was able to grow mentally stronger. Before suffering a season-ending injury in practice last October, Fordham was leading the Wolfpack with 49 total tackles, just four short of his career-best 53 stops in 2023. PHOTO BY JED GAMMON/NC STATE ATHLETICS