Mizzou’s Rakestraw returns to the field after 10-month recovery process
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Mizzou defensive back Ennis Rakestraw will make a long-awaited return to the field in Thursday night's season opener against Louisiana Tech. After tearing his ACL during the 2021 season, the sophomore spent the next 10 months in recovery.
Rakestraw said the hardest part of it all wasn't even the fact that he couldn't play. It was the phone he call he made after it happened.
"I had to call my mom and that's when I finally cried," he said. "It was the hardest part."
Shamika Quigley gave birth to Rakestraw when she was 16 years old and, from that point on, the two had an unbreakable bond.
"We were already a statistic," Rakestraw said. "People said that we weren't going to be where we're at today."
When Quigley got the news from her son, she said she knew she needed to be strong. She made the trip up to Missouri from Texas to be there for his surgery and the beginning of the recovery process.
"I felt like mentally it was going to take a toll on him to kind of go from running in the game to pretty much on the sideline watching it," she said. "I was very concerned. But like I said, I just refused to kind of let him see me caving and get scared and lose that hope."
Rakestraw said one thing his mom left behind made a huge difference in his recovery: a note.
"She said, 'son, I know it's going to be hard days ahead, but keep pushing for me. I love you and I now you got it. Head up and chest down, young bull,'" he read.
Quigley said when she wrote the note she wanted to keep it short and sweet because there was a billion things she wanted to say to him.
"When I gave birth to Ennis, I was pretty much a kid myself. It was so many uncertainties," she said. "You know, they don't come with an instruction manual. So I had to learn as we went. So when I do read interviews and see him do interviews and he kind of highlights that [note], for me, it just lets me know that I did things right."
Rakestraw made his return to the gridiron during Mizzou's fall camp, but Thursday night's opener against L.A. Tech will be his first live action since MU's game against Tennessee in 2021.
The sophomore said that his doctor has him back better than ever, but this season isn't all about the expectations.
"Now that I've been in a situation where I didn't know I could play again, I'm gonna cherish every play and make sure I do and give it extra effort, even if I don't feel like I have any more," he said.
However, if you asked Rakestraw's mom, there was never a doubt that he would get back out there.
"This was not by chance," Quigley said. "It was already written. You know, God already knows our story, so what we're supposed to do is withstand this storm. The sun is soon going to shine."
