Justin Hilliard quickly caught himself mid-sentence. While speaking to reporters last week after Ohio State wrapped up its second practice of the spring, he instantly realized he slipped up.
“Just looking back on the career I've had, some of the injuries, some of the times I've missed, times of development, right now this is my technically second spring ball, if I make it...” he said.
If I make it? No, he didn’t mean that. He quickly interjected.
“Well, I will make it through the whole spring ball,” Hilliard said.
For somebody who has gone through the rash of injuries that Hilliard has had to overcome, the verbal slip-up makes sense.
Once a five-star prospect rated as the top recruit in his class from Ohio, his career as a Buckeye skidded off-track right out of the gate. A pair of torn biceps ravaged his first couple years in Columbus, keeping him off the field for the majority of his first two seasons. Then a ruptured Achilles tendon last spring threatened to end his time at Ohio State by putting him back in the all-too-familiar training room to begin another long-term rehabilitation.
Hilliard could have given up. He could have called it quits, and nobody would have blamed him. Completely out of his control, his body had failed him yet again. In the immediacy after the torn Achilles, Hilliard says, he wondered whether he should walk away from football.
But he didn’t.
Not long after the latest major injury, it became clear to Hilliard that he should stick with the sport.
“You get around the guys, get around your family, those people who push you so much, and after that it wasn't a question,” Hilliard said.
Hilliard again could’ve turned to a post-football life after the 2019 season, when he had 13 tackles and an interception in 106 snaps. He might not have accomplished what he initially set out to do when he signed his National Letter of Intent on Feb. 4, 2015, but at least he had made it back onto the field to play what was his redshirt senior season with the last remaining players from his recruiting class. Again, though, he felt as though he had more to offer.
Because of his checkered injury history, he applied to the NCAA for a sixth year – initially not knowing whether it was a viable path – that he got approved for in the fall. After conversations with his coaches and family, he has opted to use it.
“That guy deserves everything you've got,” Al Washington said. “You just have an unbelievable amount of respect for him – myself and Greg Mattison, because Greg works with him as well. That guy is a leader. He doesn't have to say a word and you respect him because of what he's been through.”
When spring camp opened, Hilliard ran with the first-team defense as the strongside linebacker. Whether he has a shot to start or not likely comes down to whether Pete Werner returns to Sam or shifts to weakside linebacker, opening up the job at Hilliard’s spot. Either way, he’s currently in the running to take important snaps at a wildly deep linebacker position that includes seven upperclassmen, four of whom are seniors.
So far, dating back to when he made his 2019 debut in Week 3 after finally getting back to the field following his Achilles injury, his body has held up.
“I feel good,” Hilliard said. “That's the one thing about my injuries. I feel like they've just been straight rehab. The rehab's been really gruesome with the Achilles, with the biceps, but after that I've had really no problems. Like last year throughout the whole season I didn't have any problems with the Achilles, no problems with my biceps, so I feel good.”
Beyond his physical health, Hilliard has mentally stayed remarkably positive. Never has he given off any vibes of feeling sorry for himself. When asked on multiple occasions last week whether he’d consider transferring, he repeatedly said the possibility is “not in my mind at all right now.”
Rather, he continues to face what’s ahead at Ohio State without any complaints or diminished dreams.
“I still have those high expectations I came in with,” Hilliard said. “Hit some speed bumps along the way. I'm not going to let that slow me down.”
Ruptured Achilles tendon? Two torn biceps? Just speed bumps to Hilliard, apparently, on what he hopes is a topsy-turvy path to the NFL.
Ahead what can finally be said will surely be his last season as a Buckeye, Hilliard has a chance to get a full offseason of work, provided his body holds up.
“I think last year was kind of that first year I was able to get reps in the defense, and it was kind of a weird year because I missed out on camps, so a lot of that development, learning the defense, happened Week 2, Week 1 of the season,” Hilliard said. “But I think throughout the season I was able to develop, learn the defense better, and right now I feel real comfortable with it.”
“It's like a movie what he's been through,” Washington said.
Movies don’t always have happy endings, and Hilliard knows anything could happen. After all the injuries, though, he deserves one.