Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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case full or resistance bands, some empty sand bags and a makeshift sled to push around. The Badgers were pleasantly sur- prised to see their 6-1, 190-pound safety step off the plane in March as big and in shape as he was when he left. Within a few months of intense training at home this spring, Badger said his numbers in the weight room are better than they were when he left two years ago. So, Troy sent Chris to Ecuador with a suit- long way to go before he's back to full speed according to Jay Omer, BYU's strength and conditioning coach. Omer has helped hun- dreds of Mormon athletes get back on the field after serving missions during his 12 years at BYU, and he said flexibility is al- ways the hardest step toward returning to playing shape. Strength and power usually come back easily, followed by explosiveness and eventually flexibility. Omer, who has 12 football players return- He did everything right, but still has a BACK TO FOOTBALL ing from missions this season, said ideally he likes to get them back in the fold by Janu- ary and slowly integrate them into regular team workouts. Most players are ready for games the following fall, but it typically takes an entire year to fully recover. "It's amazing how many kids get back in Blue & Gold Illustrated in March. "I've got a lot of pent-up football energy. I feel bad for the first person that has to do hitting drills with me." The injury bug did bite. Badger tweaked "I can't wait," he said in an interview with his hamstring this spring and had to take his foot off the gas for two weeks. When he healed, he trained full-time for up to eight hours a day. Troy helped set him up with a track coach and weightlifting coach. He also sent Chris to the IMG Academy in Bra- denton, Fla., for two weeks of training with professionals. Badger said the best preparation for his return came two years ago when he de- cided to leave Timpview High School a semester early to spend his spring at Notre Dame. Despite new coaches in the second- ary and a mostly new roster, Badger said he felt like he never left when got back to South Bend this June. He fell back in with the three other freshmen who were on cam- pus with him in 2010 — juniors TJ Jones, Lo Wood and Tommy Rees. He said he feels more a part of that group than a 20-year-old freshman. On the field and on the depth chart, Bad- January that say, 'I feel pretty good' the next fall," Omer said. "Then come next spring they say, 'Boy, I wasn't even close to where I am right now.' " He said typically the biggest problem he sees is overzealous players pushing them- selves too hard too fast and ending up with an injury. Badger certainly fell into that ste- reotype when he first returned to Utah. ger still has a long road ahead of him before he loses his freshman label. The injury to junior Austin Collinsworth, likely out for the season after shoulder surgery, provides a space for someone to step up at the safety position. Badger said his football instincts have always been a strength and they already started to kick in during summer seven- on-seven drills. He is up against a tough challenge if he hopes to be a contributor this season, but he's not a stranger to hard work. ✦ AUGUST 2012 48