Mercer running back’s journey from devastating injury to national recognition

The notion that Mercer’s C.J. Miller would be receiving national honors seemed preposterous three years ago. Doctors were more concerned about his ability to function in daily life than they were about his future on the football field.

But Miller had other ideas and his determination to return from what many observers thought would be a career-ending injury has given life to one of the best comeback stories of the year.

This week, after running for 172 yards and two touchdowns in a win over East Tennessee State, Miller was named Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Week and the FCS National Offensive Player of the Week.

“I’ve just been waiting,” Miller said. “It’s very rewarding.”

C.J. Miller powers in for one of his two touchdowns. He rushed for 172 yards and two touchdowns at East Tennessee pm Sept. 27, the eighth-most rushing yards in the history of Mercer football.

Miller was a two-time all-state running back at Gadsden City High School in Alabama and had high expectations when he signed with Mercer. Things looked good when he ran for 105 yards against VMI in his second college game in October 2022.

But on his final carry of that game, he sustained a shoulder injury that would change the direction of his career. He tore all four of his rotator cuff muscles, which required surgery and months of painful, tedious rehab.

“At one point they told me I might not ever play again,” Miller said. “But in my mind, I kept saying I would play again.”

He did all the physical therapy — stretching with elastic bands to strengthen the muscles and regain range of motion. He followed the doctor’s plans — for the most part.

“I was still doing other football stuff without them knowing when I was supposed to just be sitting down or waiting,” he said. “I was still doing stuff back at home, and I’d come to school and do what they told me to do.”

Slowly, he began to heal. Miller returned to the team in 2023, one year after the injury, and played two games on kickoff coverage teams. He didn’t carry the ball. But it was enough to convince him that he wasn’t finished just yet.

“I was like, ‘OK, I can do this,’” he said. “I can manage to play with this. It still bothers me here and there, but I can still do everything I want to do.”

In 2024 he played 13 games and ran for 404 yards, including 81 against Rhode Island in the FCS playoffs. Miller didn’t need to be featured back because Dwayne McGee was able to take the bulk of the carries and ran for 1,191 yards and eight touchdowns.

C.J. Miller rushed for 172 yards and two touchdowns at East Tennessee pm Sept. 27, the eighth-most rushing yards in the history of Mercer football.

With McGee gone, Miller knew he would be asked to do the heavy lifting this year and he has responded. In last week’s come-from-behind 38-34 win over East Tennessee State, Miller carried 29 times — the third most carries in program history — and produced 172 yards — the eighth most in program history.

“It felt good. I hadn’t got that many touches since high school,” Miller said. “It just felt like second nature. I’ve been there before, so it wasn’t really a surprise, but I felt like I was in my groove again, and it just feels good.”

Miller said he had a feeling something good was going to happen after his first carry, a handoff off the left side that went for 18 yards.

“After my first run, that’s when I knew, ‘OK, it’s going to be a good day,’” he said. “I was in my right mind, not too high, not too low. It just felt like it was going to be good.”

Twenty-eight carries later he was still standing,

“I wouldn’t say I was exhausted, but my body was hurting,” he said.

“It was really important to win the game last week because (East Tennessee) is probably one of the hardest teams on our schedule,” he said. “To get that win gave the team a lot of confidence. It was big.”