Minnesota Golden Gophers

Gophers OL Jon Christenson is rod-free and ready to roll

Published Apr. 23, 2015 12:08 p.m. ET

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Whenever you have a rod removed from your leg, you are going to feel like you have a new lease on your career. That's exactly the feeling that Gophers offensive lineman Jon Christenson had when he got his rod removed upon completion of his recovery from a gruesome injury that left his ankle dangling.

Here is what he told ESPN.com about the free feeling:

“It’s kind of amazing how much lighter it felt after they took it out. Just going through my running cycle, as my leg comes through I can actually feel that it’s lighter. It’s like strapping a one-pound weight to your foot, it does make a difference. It’s been really nice not to have that in there.”

This feel-good comeback story goes far beyond the football field and you get a real sense of that when you hear the Gophers offensive coordinator describe Jon like this:

“Getting the rod out of his leg, you would have thought the kid got a new bike on Christmas morning,” offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover said. Jon is a kid, graduating early, he’s got great academic plans, he’s shooting for the stars and he’s going to get it, he’s a 4.0 student, he got married last May, but he really did struggle with the injury. You just knew he was struggling, and we were trying to find any way we could, giving him days off, just to have him around and involved. We got him in [blocking on extra points] and he was an emergency guy for us, but we knew it was tough on him."

Now the work begins of rebuilding the strength in his leg, but after the display of toughness he showed already, it wouldn't be wise to count Christenson out.

(h/t ESPN)

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