ESPN Independents and Others Blog

Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson

LAS VEGAS -- Colorado State tight end Kory Sperry doesn't want to think about planting his left foot and pivoting when the Rams' fall camp begins Aug. 5.

He doesn't want to think about getting hit or undercut at the knees.

If he allows those thoughts to creep into his mind, his senior season will end prematurely -- for the second time.

Last year, Sperry's "first" senior season was cut short when he suffered a season-ending knee injury against Cal in the Rams' second game. Sperry has spent the last nine months getting the memory of the injury out of his head -- hourly questions about it don't help -- and finally moving on with his senior year.

"With my friends and my family pushing me, the metal part is the most crucial part," Sperry said. "You've got to get over it. If I go out there and think about that, it just enhances my chances of getting hurt again. And that's one thing I know my friends will make fun of me about, if I baby it. And my dad will make fun of me. So, when I actually go out there I just forget about everything."

Sperry was going out on a flat route in the second quarter against Cal and the ball was thrown a little high. The 6-foot-6, 255-pound tight end pulled down the pass, landed safely and turned around to see the Cal safety rolling toward him. Sperry's left foot was planted in the ground and when the safety hit him, his knee went backward.

"Thank God it was just the ACL because the pain was terrible," Sperry said. "The pain hit in, and I ran off the field because I'm not the type of person to lay there if I'm hurt. So I ran off, and the trainers were like, 'All right, try to walk on it.' And right when I walked it was unstable."

It was a tough end to what started out as a promising senior campaign. The week before, Sperry was named John Mackey national tight end of the week after a three-touchdown, 103-yard game in an overtime loss to Colorado.

Through his first six quarters of 2007, Sperry had 10 catches and averaged 39.7 yards per catch. CSU's tight ends combined for seven catches the rest of the season.

While Sperry had little concern about coming back from the injury, he was concerned whether he'd get his senior season back. Since Sperry's injury occurred during the first 20 percent of the season, he was eligible for a medical redshirt, but didn't get conference approval until Dec. 28.

Sperry competed in some spring drills, but new head coach Steve Fairchild held Sperry out the bulk of the spring season to preserve the team's best offensive weapon.

As Sperry enters his "second" senior season, he said he's faster and that his knee is stronger. Although Colorado State doesn't test its players in the 40-yard dash, Sperry said he's beating out the linebackers, which is a good sign for both the Rams, who are picked to finish eighth in the conference, and the NFL scouts, who were banking on him becoming a pro last season.

"I've got to have a good year and just get an invite to the combine and see who tests better," Sperry said. "That's all it's about. It's just exciting because there's just a bunch of good tight ends. I just look at them, see what they're like and just try to incorporate some of their game into mine and see what helps out."