Talking to NC State football’s Freddie Phillips after practice Thursday, one thing becomes very clear, very quick. The kid is happy. Every time the redshirt junior nickel hears a question about his return to the field, a grin breaks out on his face.
And why wouldn’t he be happy? Phillips is just days removed from taking the field with his teammates, albeit in a yellow, no-contact jersey, in full pads for the first time in almost a year. Phillips had two surgeries on his achilles tendon last year after tearing it in the team’s season opener against South Carolina and later re-injuring it.
He’s finally nearing the end of a long rehab process and can see his ultimate goal of getting back on the field at Carter-Finley Stadium in front of him.
“I don’t even know how to put it into words, to be honest with you,” Phillips said. “When I got out there and it was like team one, there was just so much joy in me I just couldn’t stop smiling throughout the whole reps. Many people don’t know what it feels like to go through, I had to get surgery twice on the same thing. I was almost back, re-injured it, had to start all back over. Just staying focused mentally, it was hard. I had my teammates and my coaches helping motivate me through it. I came back even stronger. Being back out there felt amazing.”
Being away from the game he loves for so long taught Phillips a lot. While anyone that is able to play football at this level has to have an undying love for the game, sometimes the grind of getting up early every day, going to practice and spending hours in the weight and film rooms can get tiring.
But now that he’s seen the other side of it and had those things taken away from him, Phillips appreciates every part of that grind.
“It’s been humbling, for sure,” Phillips said. “Many people take this for granted. I took it for granted. Being out a whole year, it made me appreciate the game even more. Now I wake up eager to come to practice. I wake up ready to do anything, ready to do whatever the coaches ask me. I know what it was like just to sit on the sideline and be inside in the training room trying to get back out here. It’s really just humbled me further, this experience.”
Going through the process of having three surgeries in a year and working so hard in his rehab to get to this point taught Phillips a lot about himself, too.
“I’m a tough dude,” Phillips said. “God made me a tough dude. It was hard having to start back over. I had three surgeries in one year. Three surgeries in one year, many people would have been like, ‘Oh, it’s over with.’ And hang it up. That just made me stronger.”
Phillips isn’t the only one who’s happy to see himself back on the field, as the Wolfpack’s coaching staff are thrilled to get such a hard-working, energetic player back in the mix.
“It’s great having him back,” head coach Dave Doeren said. “A guy that’s been through all he’s been through with his achilles. Just his spirit and how hard we worked. Everyone’s pulling for him, rooting for him. He’s a try-hard guy; he’s a tough guy. He cares a lot. Having those guys on the football field helps you on special teams and on defense.”
For NC State nickels coach Aaron Henry, watching Phillips go through what he’s gone through over the past year only increased his admiration for Pelion, South Carolina native.
“He’s an extremely resilient kid,” Henry said. “I think that’s definition of our program. Hard, tough, together. When things got hard, he’s a tough individual and he always stayed close to the family. It’s worked out for him. Everybody’s going to handle adversity a different way. That kid, his genetic makeup is just different. It’s been really, really cool to see him come back from that and play a little bit. I’m excited for him.”
Having Henry in his corner helped Phillips a great deal through the rehab process.
Henry had three surgeries on the same knee during his playing career, and when Phillips got the tough news that his achilles would need another surgery, it was Henry who provided the words of encouragement he needed.
“I had guys like coach Henry, who had three knee surgeries on one knee, he told me, ‘Let pain be a guide. Let that guide you through it and take it day by day,’” Phillips said. “When I first had it I didn’t know how I was going to get back because I only had six months since surgery to get back to this day. He was just like, ‘Take it day by day. Each day will get better, and by that time, when it’s time, you’ll be able to go.’ That’s exactly how it went. When it came last Tuesday, it was time go full pads; I was ready to go. That really was just faith, I just had to keep my faith.”
Another guide for Phillips as he worked his way back? Former NC State and Chicago Bears linebacker Willie Young, who went through the same thing Phillips did with rehabbing a torn achilles in the NFL.
“Willie Young, that was my guy,” Phillips said. “Anytime I had a question about anything like this. He tore his in the [NFL] when he was with the Bears. Came back the next season and had the most sacks he had in his career. He came back even better. That’s how I wanted to come back. I talked to him any time I think something was not right or I didn’t know how to go about something. I’d shoot him a text. Willie Young just helped me through it; he helped motivate me through it.”
In addition to a motivated, tough player, NC State is returning a key piece to its secondary, which could be the strength of this year’s defense with Bradley Chubb and the defensive line gone to the NFL, in Phillips.
Phillips should be able to play a key role for that group.
“He’s a freak of nature,” Henry said. “He’s genetically gifted. He plays really, really hard. Athletically, he has all of the mechanics and tools in the world. He plays on another level energy-wise. And he’s had experience. Him being back out there, pushing Stephen Griffin. Pushing Tanner Ingle. I think it’s only going to make our defense better.”
Henry added that he “100 percent” expects Phillips to be ready to take the field with the Wolfpack in its season opener against James Madison Sept. 1 at Carter-Finley Stadium. And Phillips’ expectation on that subject shouldn’t come as a surprise.
“Oh yeah, I’ll be out there.”
