North Carolina football quarterback Max Johnson returns in 2025 for his sixth season of college football. He first had to defy the odds to be ready for fall camp.
Johnson, who started the Tar Heels’ season opener against Minnesota last season, suffered a gruesome leg injury that forced him to miss the remainder of the year. He revealed on Saturday, Aug. 2, that the injury required five surgeries and that he feared he would lose his leg at one point.
Johnson said he’s 100% cleared for the 2025 season.
‘There was a point and time where I thought I was going to lose my leg,’ Johnson told reporters on Saturday.
Johnson started his career at LSU, where he started numerous games as a true freshman before later transferring to Texas A&M, where he mostly served in a backup role. He’s now set to compete with South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez, who joined North Carolina in the spring transfer portal.
Johnson underwent surgery on his leg in Minneapolis after the road game, before returning to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in the following days.
‘I ended up having five surgeries,’ Johnson told reporters on Saturday. ‘It wasn’t just the bone part, there were some other things. It wasn’t like it was such a horrible, horrible thing. I’ve talked with Coach (Bill) Belichick and Coach (Freddie) Kitchens that the best man is going to play. Whoever that is, I know Coach Belichick is going to make the best decision.
‘I’m just blessed to be here, to be able to compete. It just feels good to be able to do it again.’
The experienced quarterback has completed 486 of 803 passes (60.5%) for 5,923 yards with 47 touchdowns to 13 interceptions in his career. He left the 19-17 win over Minnesota after completing 12 of 19 passes for 71 yards with an interception and a rushing touchdown.
‘I couldn’t tell if it was my knee, my femur or my leg,’ Johnson said, looking back on when the injury first occurred. ‘I remember getting up (and) I put my shoulders around the trainers who were carrying me off the field and as soon as I got picked up, my leg kind of slipped out. Kind of felt it dangling. Right then and there I kind of knew it was my femur.’
Regardless of whether Johnson wins the quarterback battle in fall camp during Belichick’s first season in North Carolina, it has been a remarkable journey for the 24-year-old signal caller to get back on the field in 2025.