BOULDER – When the lights come up on Friday night at the Rocky Mountain Showdown, the moment will be especially sweet for Colorado Buffaloes receiver Juwann Winfree.
The redshirt junior was sidelined last season with an ACL tear that he suffered during his first fall camp with the Buffs. It has been two years since Winfree played in a Division-I matchup, his last game coming as a freshman at Maryland.
“Obviously, I really missed it,” Winfree said. “When I’m in that stadium and I’m suited up and the lights are back on, I might shed a tear because it’s been so long. This is my game, this is my sport and the fact that I’m back just means so much to me.”
A year ago, Winfree was watching his teammates prepare for their bout with Colorado State as he dealt with his injury.
“Last year, I was going through a lot,” he said. “That was my first time ever missing a football season in my life. So a lot of things were going through my head. I didn’t want the fans to think negatively, to be like, ‘Oh he’s done.’ I was going through a lot. I just wanted everyone to know that I’d be back and I’d have an impact this year.”
Winfree missed a lot of things last season, but nothing more than making plays with his teammates.
“You know, football is my love,” Winfree said. “I love the game and making plays is what I do. The fact that I was out and seeing all my boys making plays and I couldn’t be out there with them hurt. ”
But there was good that came from 2016 as well. After sitting for a season, Winfree is thankful for every minute that he gets to play football.
“I definitely have a higher appreciation for the game,” he said. “That was my first time missing a season so I definitely took it to heart. I thought everything was set in stone for me, I was doing good in camp, I felt God. But it probably just wasn’t my time.”
This year, it could all be different. Fully recovered from his ACL tear, this could be his season to showcase everything that he is capable of, and it all starts on Friday night.
“Just to be suited up and look around at the stadium and all the fans,” Winfree said. “All of that excitement, it’s going to bring a lot of energy to me. I haven’t been there in two years and this atmosphere is going to be crazy. That’s really what I’m looking forward to, the atmosphere and the energy and the adrenaline.”
Winfree won’t take anything this year for granted. Walking out onto that field with the Buffs this week will be incredibly important to him.
“It means a lot to me to be back,” Winfree said. “My family saw how much it hurt me to be out, my teammates and my friends saw it. To be back is really everything to me. I’ve been waiting a year.”
“Yeah you have!” shouted Derek McCartney, Winfree’s teammate who also missed last season with an ACL injury.
Winfree laughed and corrected himself.
“We have been waiting,” he said. “I worked so hard this offseason, and I haven’t been able to showcase what I can do, so I feel this is the time now.”
Friday will be Winfree’s first ever opportunity to suit up with the Buffs. With so much to prove for himself, his family and his teammates, the Rocky Mountain Showdown will give Winfree the stage that he has been waiting more than two years for.
