Logan Silva is sidelined for now with a knee injury but he expects to be back with the Papermakers later this season
CAMAS — Logan Silva said he wishes he had broken his knee.
As in a break in the kneecap.
After all, that would have healed by now.
Instead, Silva tore his ACL and meniscus in his left knee on March 19. He had surgery in April.
This week, as Camas prepares for its first game of the high school football season, Silva remains sidelined, hoping to be back by Week 5, and certainly expecting to be back for Week 8.
His injury and the ongoing rehabilitation are reminders of another casualty of COVID. Silva’s devastating injury happened in Camas’ second game of the abbreviated season, in the fourth week.
“If I had done this in Week 5 in a normal season, I’d have been back four months ago playing football at full speed,” Silva said.
Instead, Silva is doing all he can in physical therapy, hoping he passes all the tests performed by his medical team in order to get back on the field for his senior season.
He is not alone. Liam Mallory of Union tore his knee prior to Silva’s injury. Mallory is hoping to play some this season but has not yet been cleared. Other teams throughout Clark County also have players still waiting to be given the OK to play this season.
That winter/spring football season gave athletes practically no offseason to recover from nagging aches, let alone devastating injuries.
“I remember when (Liam) got hurt. I heard about that. Everything you work for, down the drain,” Silva said.
He remembers thinking about Mallory’s timeline, how it could be tough for him to return for a traditional fall season. In Silva’s next game, it happened to him.
“I caught a pass. It was third-and-18. I tried really hard to get the first down,” Silva said. “I planted on my outside leg and got hit by three guys. My body collapsed.”
A complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament. Making it worse was what is called a bucket handle tear of the meniscus. A portion of the meniscus tears and flips over to look like a bucket handle. And sometimes, as was the case with Silva, the torn meniscus can get stuck in the knee joint.
“I couldn’t even straighten my leg,” Silva said.
The medical team used a graft from his hamstring to repair the knee.
It was a rough time for Silva between the injury and the surgery.
“I got kind of depressed for a little bit. It was hard to come out here everyday and watch practice,” Silva said.
Robert Silva, then a senior on the team, insisted that his younger brother remain with the team, part of the team.
“The only reason I came to practice, honestly, was because of my brother,” Logan said. “If it was up to me, I would have just stayed home.”
Looking back, Logan is appreciative of Robert’s insistence.
“If I wasn’t out there, I would have missed a lot of stuff. Even being hurt, being out there with the guys, it’s something you’re not going to get anywhere else,” Logan said.
Being around the team was therapeutic.
“I’m glad I got to do it,” Logan said. “I got to know these guys a lot better.”
It also helped with the transition from junior year to senior year, and the offseason program. Sure, Logan is not cleared for football, but he is still very much part of the team.
“He’s a really vocal guy. His teammates look up to him for inspiration,” Camas coach Jack Hathaway said. “I’m asking him every day, ‘How can you help the team as Coach Silva?’ He’s been doing all of that.”
So when Logan Silva is not in physical therapy, he’s with his team, mentally preparing for the 2021 season so he will be able to jump right into the linebacker or tight end position as soon as the doctors say yes. Silva is, or will be, part of one of the best linebacker corps in program history. And that’s saying something in this program. Silva, Luke Jamison, and Jairus Phillips are truly special.
“I want to play as much football as I can,” Silva said.
Again, the goal is Week 5. But if that date passes, Silva will hold out hope for Weeks 8 and 9, when Camas takes on Skyview and Union.
“Obviously every game matters, but when you’re talking about league, nobody better to play than Skyview and Union,” Silva said.
For now, it’s all about following medical advice and working the PT program. Logan Silva just has to get back on the field.
“There is nothing that is more important to me than football,” he said.
