Blake Corum recalls suffering season-ending injury

Blake Corum is a star running back for the Michigan Wolverines who has been a key piece of the team’s recent success. However, he suffered a major injury against Illinois that ultimately ended his season early, before he could make an impact on the postseason.

Recently, Corum opened up about what happened during that injury.

“Went into the locker room, got x-rays, the ACL, all the ligaments felt good,” Blake Corum said. “So, I’m like, ‘Doc, what can I do? Got to take a pain pill? You know, I’m ready to get back out there after halftime. This is my last time in the Big House, I can’t end like this.’ You know, alright, cool. [I’ll] take a little pill.”

Blake Corum briefly returned to the game against Illinois before needing to come out again. That marked the end of his day and was an incredibly emotional moment for the running back.

“I’m like, ‘Alright, cool. My season’s not over.’ Went out, my first carry after halftime. Got like three yards. Something didn’t feel right. Maybe I just need a rest. You know, Coach [Mike] Hart, he was like, ‘Cut it. Just cut it.’ By the end of the game, we almost lost,” Corum said.

“So, I’m like, did I let my team down? Did I let them down? Are we going to lose? Are we not going to be able to go to the Big Ten Championship, like all these things were racing through my mind. At the time, I wasn’t even thinking about the injury because I didn’t think I was injured. I thought maybe I just need a little rest. Maybe it was a little bruise.”

Corum would try and play next week against Ohio State, despite getting the news from team doctors about how severe the injury was.

“That MRI that came in the next morning, Doc was like, ‘You have a tear. You have a big tear in the meniscus. When it tore, your bones collided, you have a big bone bruise. You have an MCL sprain.’ And I’m like, ‘Okay.’ I’m taking all the information in and I ask, ‘Can I play?’ He was like, ‘It can’t really get worse. You can play if it feels good.’ So, that week, didn’t practice at all. Didn’t practice at all,” Corum explained.

“It was Thursday and we were about to play Ohio State and I go up to Coach [Jim] Harbaugh and I said, ‘Hey, Coach, I’m playing.’ He’s like, ‘I’ve got an announcement everyone, Blake’s playing.’ You know and everyone goes crazy. We get to Columbus, first carry, my leg gives out on me. Second carry, my leg gives out on me. That’s all she wrote.”

Shortly after, it was announced that Corum needed knee surgery.

Ultimately, Blake Corum decided to return to Michigan for another season. That was against the advice of head coach Jim Harbaugh. However the back feels he wanted to go through the process at 100%, so he returned to Michigan for 2023.

Blake Corum on his injury recover

For Blake Corum, recovering from his injury hasn’t been easy. However, the hardest part for Corum was getting out of a hole.

“I was in a deep hole. It wasn’t even the recovery part. The hardest part of this recovery was getting myself out of that hole. No one knew because I was still me. I was still smiling. Deep down inside, I knew it wasn’t me,” Corum said.

“I’m the type of guy that you have to kick out of the weight room. I didn’t even want to be in the weight room. I wanted to eat McDonald’s. I didn’t want to eat rice and chicken. I wasn’t me, and the only one that could have got myself out of that was me. It took a while. I’d go to the weight room one day and then not come in for the next four days. I didn’t want to do anything. Then I realized, why am I feeling bad for myself? I’m blessed. People would die to be in my position. … That’s when it clicked.”