Just six months after tearing his Achilles tendon, Duke quarterback Thomas Sirk stood days away from completing what would have been a medical marvel. By sporting standards, anyway.
Achilles injuries sometimes take a year to heal. Sirk passed every milestone on a blistering pace, pushing past the fatigue, all so he could start his senior season. But nine days before the 2016 opener, he felt that familiar pop in practice. Sirk had reinjured his Achilles. Trainers ran to him, and he asked for a minute. He prayed.
“At that moment, you have to accept it,” Sirk said recently in a phone interview.