The unthinkable has been thought. The impossible is now realized. A unique set of circumstances have conspired to bring us college football's first 9-year player.
Miami tight end Cam McCormick appealed to the ACC for a ninth year of eligibility back in September, and he announced Thursday that appeal has been granted.
How did he do it? Let's rewind McCormick's path
2015: McCormick is the No. 1 tight end in the western half of the United States (per 247Sports) for Summit High School in Bend, Ore., before a leg injury ended his senior season two games in. This will become a theme.
2016: Redshirted.
2017: Caught six passes for 89 yards and a touchdown in 13 appearances as a redshirt freshman for Oregon.
2018: Sustained a season-ending leg injury in Oregon's season opener.
2019: Missed the entire season due to injury. By this point, McCormick has been in college for four years, played for one, but has already been granted a sixth and seventh season due to his previous injuries.
2020: COVID season, which does not count toward McCormick's (nor anyone's) eligibility. McCormick missed it anyway.
2021: As a sixth-year redshirt sophomore, McCormick appeared in two games before suffered a season-ending injury for the fifth time in seven years.
2022: Appeared in all 13 games with six starts, catching 10 balls for 66 yards and three touchdowns. McCormick wins the FWAA-Orange Bowl Courage Award, given to the player who "best displays courage on or off the field, including overcoming an injury or physical handicap, preventing a disaster or living through hardship."
2023: Transfers to Miami, where he catches eight passes for 62 yards across 13 appearances.
Appreciate all of the support! #84Resilient #GoCanes pic.twitter.com/KKYlI2jO8P
— Cam (@McCormick_Cam) January 18, 2024
And so now McCormick will return as a ninth-year, quadruple redshirt senior. His Oregon bio listed him as a fifth-year senior in 2020, which means he's played a full 5-year career as a senior alone.
-- McCormick has been in college so long, his career predates not only the Transfer Portal and the creation of the NIL era, but also the Early Signing Period and the 4-game redshirt rule.
-- His college career spans Nick Saban's final two national championships, his first and only 3-year national championship drought at Alabama, and the first season of Saban's successor.
-- Kirby Smart will celebrate his 100th win at Georgia next season, and there's a chance his tenure sees its 125th game. All of which runs parallel to McCormick's college career.
-- McCormick signed with Oregon the same day as Justin Herbert. Next season will be Herbert's fifth with the Los Angeles Chargers.
-- Other members of the 2016 recruiting class: Nick Bosa, Ed Oliver, and AJ Brown, all of whom will play their sixth NFL seasons next year.
-- The national championship game for the 2024 college football season also falls on Inauguration Day. There's a chance (albeit a slight one) McCormick's college football career spans four different Presidential administrations.
The question now becomes, what if McCormick suffers another season-ending injury between now and Miami's fourth game? Would he dare appeal for a 10th season, and would the ACC and/or the NCAA grant it? It seems McCormick and the authorities are locked in a game of chicken, and thus far neither side has blinked.
The NCAA turned down Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa's appeal for a seventh season earlier this month, so there's a chance 2024 truly is McCormick's last ride. His last, last, last, last, last ride.