C.J. Beathard and his love-hate relationship with a knee brace

IOWA CITY — C.J. Beathard first met his closest friend for the 2016 season in August. It's been a weird sort of friendship, but they've need each other.

One side of the relationship needs unconditional support. The other side was built for that very reason.

Yes, we are talking about the Iowa quarterback's knee brace.

'It was a love-hate relationship,' Beathard said with a laugh.

Let's walk through memory lane with these two crazy kids.

Beathard suffered a sprained knee early during fall camp. It was a Tuesday and a linebacker blitzed, running back LeShun Daniels picked him up and the linebacker rolled onto Beathard's knee. Beathard missed two days and three practices. He returned with his knee braced for open scrimmage on Aug. 13.

At first, Beathard hated the thing. To be fair, we're not talking a neoprene sleeve thingie, but one of those bulky, offensive lineman deals. Like one the biggest pain-in-the-butt YMCA hoops player might wear after he tears his ACL in his 30s but keeps playing pickup hoops into his 40s.

Beathard first met heavy knee brace during fall camp 2015. He was able to ditch it before the season. Not this year.

'They (Iowa's medical and training staff) wanted to keep me in it for precautionary reasons for the entire season,' Beathard said last weekend, after it was announced the Hawkeyes (8-4) were headed to the Outback Bowl to take on Florida (8-4). 'If I had my choice, I probably wouldn't wear it ... I definitely wouldn't wear it ... I don't think I needed it, but I sprained the (knee during camp).'

This is a post/story that's more than just Beathard's knee brace, but it sure does hold up as a metaphor for his season. Let's rewind just for a second and go back to how Beathard's year started. Beathard was unable to play in Iowa's spring game because he took a hit in practice and landed on his shoulder.

The injury was serious enough for an MRI look. Everything came up OK. First practice round dodged for Beathard.

Wait, let's re-rewind to January. That's when Beathard had sports hernia surgery (performed by Dr. William C. Meyers, a nationally recognized leader in the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of core muscle injuries).

So, there was the sports hernia surgery that also fixed a torn groin muscle. And then there was the shoulder MRI after a hit in spring practice. And then after the linebacker and left knee in fall camp, Beathard finally met his companion the knee brace.

(As an aside, yes, it's probably true that Beathard, who was second-team all-Big Ten last season after throwing for 2,809 yards, 17 touchdowns and just five interceptions, led Big Ten quarterbacks in inadvertent practice contact this season. How does that happen? 'That's a good question,' wide receiver Matt VandeBerg said after that August practice. Of course, VandeBerg's season-ending broken foot also had a say in Beathard's performance this season, more even than the knee brace. Same for tight end George Kittle's struggles with a foot injury that cost him the better part of four games. With VandeBerg and Kittle out for extended periods this season, Beathard found himself without the top six receivers who helped make second-team all-Big Ten happen.)

The fact of the matter is Beathard did and always has done his own stunts. In the loss to North Dakota State, Beathard took off on a scramble and suffered an injury to his left collarbone that took him out for a few plays. Everyone brushed it off, but there were X-rays, so that one sparked some concern.

OK, now the high jinks with the knee brace.

Beathard always has copped to being a terrible slider, going back to his high school days as a baseball player at Battle Ground Academy in Nashville, Tenn. Now add a knee brace to that.

During their short rendezvous in 2015, Beathard slid in practice and snapped his knee brace. Then Oct. 8 at Minnesota, a ragged slide for a 3-yard gain on third-and-1 again broke the knee brace.

'Yeah, it broke,' Beathard said. 'I'll get a new one. But yeah, I swear, I'm 0-for-2 when I slide. I did it in practice last year, and the knee brace snapped.'

But he needed it. The people in charge of the quarterback's knees at Iowa deemed it necessary.

'I got used to it after awhile, but I really didn't like wearing it,' Beathard said. 'The trainers and coaches just thought I should wear it for precautionary reasons.'

So, Beathard's knee braced, MRI'd shoulder, X-rayed collarbone and 'losing top six receivers from 2015' season was reflected in the numbers. The final numbers aren't in, but as it stands now, Beathard has 82 fewer completions than 2015 (362 to 278) and 935 fewer yards (2,809 to 1,874).

In rushing, Beathard finished 2015 with 237 yards and six TDs on 100 attempts (that's including the negative yardage for 30 sacks). This season, Beathard rushed 79 times for minus-24 yards with two TDs (including lost yards for 29 sacks).

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz has acknowledged the deficit Iowa has had in the receiver corps this season. He's also said Beathard has pushed a lot of the right buttons as a decision-maker this season (for example, he checked into running back Akrum Wadley's 75-yard TD run against Nebraska in the season finale).

'He's been doing a lot of good things,' Ferentz said. 'It's been a tough year for him. I would even suggest that the way he's handled it speaks even more highly of him. Imagine what his expectations were, too, personally. I haven't asked him, but I think I know. He's handled it with grace and humility and he's been a great team leader.'

Last year, Beathard talked about health a lot. It was hard to avoid because that torn groin thing was impossible to hide. When asked this year, Beathard has always said ...

'I'm good, I feel good,' he said last week.

He's good, but he and his buddy the knee brace will enjoy one last embrace in an Iowa uniform at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., on Jan. 2.

Maybe Beathard will burn the knee brace. Maybe he'll bronze it. That's how love-hate works.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com