Patient Stories

Grateful isn’t a word many top athletes would likely use to describe their feelings about the journey to recovery after a serious injury.

But 25-year-old Houston Texans quarterback Graham Mertz does.

“I have so much gratitude for where I am now,” Graham said. “I’ve learned how resilient I am and how to take a tough situation and flip it into a positive.”

In October 2024, Graham tore his ACL in a noncontact injury on a touchdown drive while playing for the University of Florida.

“It was wild. I actually tore it on the previous play, but I had so much adrenaline, I went on to score a touchdown before realizing I had no lateral stability and fell to the ground,” Graham said.

The injury may have ended his college football career, but Graham was determined to achieve his goal of playing in the NFL.

“This was my first major injury, but I ended up playing six years in college and I had proved that I could play at the next level,” Graham said. “I was absolutely not going to let this stop me.”

With just months to go until the NFL recruiting season, Graham turned to orthopedic surgeon and team physician, Kevin W. Farmer, MD (Gainesville, FL).

“Dr. Farmer made magic happen. We had a lot of logistics to plan for to get me ready for the draft,” Graham said.

Dr. Farmer reconstructed Graham’s ACL using a graft harvested from his patellar tendon, which he secured with FastThread™ screws and the Arthrex InternalBrace™ technique.

“We were on a very limited time frame. We needed to have Graham ready for Pro Day in April, which was less than six months away,” Dr. Farmer said. “I selected the BTB autograft ACL reconstruction technique because it is the most accepted by the NFL. Thirty-one out of 32 NFL physicians use that graft as their primary choice for ACL reconstruction. I added the InternalBrace technique to improve the stability of the repair even more.”

After the successful surgery, Graham jumped into rehab with the same drive and tenacity that he brings to the football field.

“I was 100% focused on getting back to where I was,” Graham said. “It’s all about your mental approach to the process, so I looked for incremental wins, day by day, and week by week. Today, my knee feels amazing and I trust it completely.”

His hard work paid off. Graham performed so well at Pro Day and at the combine that he was drafted as a quarterback for the Houston Texans, where he just completed his rookie season. He says he’s ready and excited for the new challenges ahead.

“You don’t wish for an injury, but today I’m actually grateful for it,” Graham said. “My knee feels great and I’ve learned a lot about myself and handling adversity. It sets me up not just for football, but for life.”

Disclaimers

The InternalBrace surgical technique is intended only to augment the primary repair/reconstruction by expanding the area of tissue approximation during the healing period and is not intended as a replacement for the native ligament. The InternalBrace technique is for use during soft tissue-to-bone fixation procedures and is not cleared for bone-to-bone fixation.

This is not medical advice and Arthrex recommends that surgeons be trained in the use of a particular product before using it in surgery. A surgeon must always rely on their own professional judgment when deciding whether to use a particular product when treating a particular patient. A surgeon must always refer to the package insert, product label, and/or directions for use before using any Arthrex product. Postoperative management is patient-specific and dependent on the treating professional's assessment. Individual results will vary and not all patients will experience the same postoperative activity level or outcomes. Products may not be available in all markets because product availability is subject to the regulatory or medical practices in individual markets.

This real patient was compensated for the time he took to share his story. 

Physician is a paid consultant for Arthrex, Inc.