Miami's Cam McCormick experienced a fairytale start to 2024

On Saturday, Miami tight end Cam McCormick had a heartwarming moment. It was a big emotional lift for him.

Early in the first quarter, he caught a pass from Cam Ward that resulted in a Miami touchdown. It was the first of the Hurricanes' five touchdowns in their season-opening 41-17 romp over Florida. For most, it's just a routine 9-yard catch but for McCormick, it's been a long time coming.

Before this season, the 26-year-old was granted a ninth year of eligibility by the NCAA. Yes, that's right. He's been playing college football for nine years. He is the longest-tenured player in college football history.

He will most likely have that distinction for a long time. But how and why? This is where the struggles of the Arizona native get introduced.

Born in Mesa, Arizona, Cam and his mother moved to Bend, Oregon in 2012. It was here that he attended Summit High School in Bend, Oregon. Throughout his time at Summit High, he played football for the Lava Bears.

During his 2015 senior season, he began dealing with the first in a long string of injuries throughout the next several years. He tore his ACL in September of that year in practice.

Despite missing that entire season, he was still rated as a three-star prospect and signed on to play for his biggest local school for college ball, the University of Oregon. In 2016, he took a redshirt year while he was continuing to heal from the injury.

In his first full season, McCormick dealt with another setback. In January 2017, he suffered a case of Rhabdomyolysis following an offseason workout and was hospitalized.

Rhabdomyolysis, commonly known as rhabdo, is a condition where damaged skeletal muscle breaks down quickly, often as a result of intense exercise performed over a short duration. He was able to get past it and eventually started two games.

However, throughout the season he only caught six passes. 2018 was even worse, as he missed the entire season after tearing a ligament and breaking a fibula in the season-opener against Bowling Green.

He missed the next two seasons after a malfunction happened with a screw in his ankle. The screw was out of place after he sustained his 2018 injuries. Less than a month following Oregon's spring football game, pain and swelling came back.

The anchoring of the screw caused another fracture in his left ankle. McCormick was able to the ankle reconstructed in time for 2021.

In the 2021 season, he missed spring ball but could still suit up for the first game against Fresno State. In the team's second game against Ohio State, the tight end sustained another setback as he tore an ACL for the second time since his high school days.

He missed the rest of that year. After going through another rehab process, he could finally play a full season in 2022.

He started six of the 13 games he played in that season. McCormick caught ten passes for 66 yards and three touchdowns. However, even though the embattled warrior took part in a full season, he still was dealing with pain.

This pain was different. It wasn't physical but emotional turmoil. McCormick was and still is estranged from his father and they haven't spoken since 2016.

Before the 2023 season, McCormick transferred to Miami and stayed healthy the entire year. He started 11 games and caught eight passes for 62 yards.

Now, to start this year, he earned a moment that he will have forever, scoring his team's first touchdown in one of the hardest places to play in major college football.

Even though Miami was the better team, McCormick's first touchdown since 2022 served as a spark for them. This was just McCormick's fifth touchdown catch of his college career.

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