Recruiting Report: Dustin Sarvie (2020)
‘s senior season could not have gone much worse. An injury robbed him of most of his final high school football season. Then, after committing to a college football program, the powers that be robbed him of his college future.…
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Continue Reading‘s senior season could not have gone much worse. An injury robbed him of most of his final high school football season. Then, after committing to a college football program, the powers that be robbed him of his college future. The Buffalo senior’s fall and winter seasons were not filled with tackles and gearing up for college football. They were filled with rehab and starting the recruiting process all over again.
“I played one game and then got hurt on the first drive of the second game,” Sarvie said. “I was taking on a block, and I think the offensive tackle tried to cut block me, and he ended up diving into the side of my knee – caving it in. I don’t remember much after that.”
Shortly after the injury, Sarvie’s long road to recovery was underway.
“I had surgery in October on my meniscus and my ACL,” Sarvie said. “I couldn’t put any weight on it for six weeks. After eight weeks, I could start walking on it. The first few weeks of rehab was just trying to get me to straighten my leg. Now it is on to strengthening my quads and hamstrings and how far I can bend my knee.”
Sarvie did what he could to stay involved with the team.
“It sucked not being able to play, but it was nice to still be there. I would kind of help my defensive coordinator coach the kids and everything. Yeah, it sucked not being able to play, but it was nice to be able to be there for my teammates.”
Although his senior season on the field was over, at least the senior knew what his football future held – or so he thought.
“I committed to St. Cloud State a couple of weeks after I got hurt,” Sarvie explained. “They still believed in me even after the injury. I was thankful for that.”
Months later, SCSU announced the termination of their football program, and Sarvie’s football future was up in the air again.
“The day that it went all over the news, the coach called me, so I knew before it all went public. I was mostly sad for the coaches and the guys. A lot of those guys might not be able to find new places to go. It was a lot harder on them than it was on me.”
A free agent of sorts, the senior inside linebacker is jumping back into the recruiting process.
“I will be going on a few official visits in January, so hopefully I can find somewhere similar to St. Cloud that feels like a family. Most of the programs that were interested in me before I committed reached out to me. I am going to official visits to Bemidji State, Northern State, and Sioux Falls. Bemidji State and Northern State were both interested when I first committed.”
Sarvie has not changed his approach.
“I am approaching (recruiting) the same way. I just want to find a place that feels right.”
Like SCSU, the new schools don’t seem to be worried about his injury.
“I don’t think they are too worried about the injury,” Sarvie explained. “They just ask how rehab is going.”
Rehab has been slowly progressing.
“I can walk and everything,” Sarvie told northstarfootballnews.com. “I don’t have to use any crutches or anything anymore. They have me doing air squats now. I can’t run or jog yet, but I can do some more advanced stuff in therapy. It is slow, but I am making progress.”
As long as he keeps making progress, he will be full-go soon.
“It should take six to nine months, so I should be ready to go in mid-June or so.”
It will be the end of a long, strange journey for Sarvie – and the start of a whole new journey.