It is becoming a trend for student-athletes to play a redshirt season in their respective sports and come back for a fifth season. At Pacific University, many football players have decided to come back for another chance at a conference championship run.
An athlete taking a red shirt season is withdrawn from college sporting events during one year in order to develop skills or heal from injury and extend the period of playing eligibility by a further year at this level of competition.
Most seniors who are coming back for that fifth season apply for a medical redshirt which gives them an extra season to play to replace the season they missed due to injury.
There are a handful of fth-year seniors on this year’s Boxer squad including linebackers Jack Perez, Trey Kodama and running back Kamana Pimental. All of whom were eligible to take advantage of a medical redshirt season from earlier in their career.
Pimental’s eligibility came from a broken hand he suffered in preseason of his freshman season, which caused him to sit out the rest of the year.
“It played out well because I messed around my freshman year so I had to take an extra semester this year,” Pimental said. “Football and school just played out perfectly.”
Pimental was not only excited to get another chance to play a season of football while he finished up his schooling, he was also excited about the possibilities of the team this season.
“I believed that this was the year that we could’ve had a great year,” Pimental said. “We had the perfect schedule and we had the team to do it. That was the whole motivation.”
Many other football players at Paci c are looking to take advantage of a redshirt season in the future, including senior defensive back Chris Shoffner. Shoffner suffered a knee injury during spring football last year and the injury forced him to sit out this season.
“I’m planning on coming back,” Shoffner said. “I decided to come back because I still have some classes I have to finish up since I transferred here. Another year of football was just a bonus for me.”
Other players are also contemplating taking a redshirt season in the years to come.
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