What drove UNC’s Austin Proehl to return for his final home game

North Carolina senior wide receiver Austin Proehl lifted up the cuff of his black sweatshirt to show the white tape wrapped around his wrist. “B.P.” and a cross were scrawled on the tape in black marker.

“That’s for Blake,” he said.

His brother, Eastern Carolina freshman wide receiver Blake Proehl, tore his ACL on the first day of practice. And when Austin Proehl came off the field after he broke his collarbone against Duke on Sept. 23, Blake Proehl was one of the first people to greet him in the locker room.

“I just looked at him, and I broke down,” Proehl said.

Proehl knew the agony his brother was in over not being able to play. He had resolved to play for Blake Proehl, but now, it looked like Proehl wouldn’t play at all for the rest of his final season. The brothers went to Proehl’s surgery meeting the next day, and Proehl announced that he wouldn’t accept his injury as season ending.

“I said, ‘I want to come back,’ and they all looked at me kind of crazy,” Proehl said. “And I said, ‘No, that’s my goal. I’m not going to sit here and allow this injury to stop me and stop me from doing what I love.’ ”

After months spent focusing on recovering and pushing to play, Proehl finally returned to the field in UNC’s 65-10 win over Western Carolina on Saturday – the last home game of his collegiate career. The Tar Heels are not the same team Proehl left behind.

They have lost eight games and many more players to injury, including wide receivers senior Thomas Jackson and redshirt-freshman Rontavius Groves. With no hope of winning the Coastal Division or even a bowl game, there was seemingly no pressure for Proehl to return.

But Proehl didn’t see it that way. He wanted to get back on the field. And most important, he wanted to show his teammates that these final games mattered. No matter their record, the Tar Heels still had something to play for.

Nathan Elliott, the UNC quarterback, thought Proehl would make his return during UNC’s win against Pittsburgh, and Proehl even traveled to the game with his surgeon, but he was not fully recovered. On Monday, Proehl was cleared to play.

“He was definitely excited,” redshirt-junior wide receiver Josh Cabrera said. “He probably doesn’t show it all the time, but when he gets on the field you can see it.”

When Proehl made his first reception on Saturday, he sprung up from the grass and pumped his fist at the sky. He bolted past Western Carolina defenders on every reception, and he eagerly accepted head coach Larry Fedora’s offer to receive a punt in the third quarter, which he returned for 17 yards. Proehl finished the game with three catches for 52 yards, including a 31-yard catch.

Fedora said Proehl’s return takes pressure off of the younger wide receivers, like freshman Beau Corrales and redshirt-sophomore Anthony Ratliff-Williams, who shouldered greater responsibility to make plays in Proehl’s absence. Now, the Tar Heels approach their last game of the season against N.C. State with their most experienced receiver back.

“He is the best route-runner I’ve ever played with,” Elliott said. “And he brings a, you know, teams kind of fear that whenever he’s out there.”

For Cabrera, the most exciting part about Proehl’s return was not his on-the-field contributions. Proehl is one of his best friends – the two have known each other since Fedora’s Freak Show in high school – and having Proehl back on the field made the game fun. His energy was contagious.

Even as the game ended, Proehl seemed like he didn’t want to leave the field. He stayed longer to greet fans with his fellow seniors, and he spoke at post-game interviews still wearing his cleats and grass-stained uniform pants.

Proehl had kept his surgery band secured to his wrist long after the operation. It was a reminder – he and his brother would overcome their injuries together. The day before the Western Carolina game, Proehl’s surgery band finally ripped off. But that was OK.

After all, he didn’t need it anymore.

This story was originally published November 18, 2017 at 9:34 PM with the headline "What drove UNC’s Austin Proehl to return for his final home game."