Jimmy Gjere wishes he knew how it happened, wonders whether there was a specific play or a certain blow that caused all this. But there is no obvious evidence of how it happened. All he can remember is standing in the huddle in Michigan Stadium last October, hearing quarterback Max Shortell call a play, and then wandering back to the line of scrimmage with no idea what to do next.
"I couldn't remember the plays," Gjere said last week.
His teammates, unaware anything was wrong, tried to correct the offensive lineman when he didn't follow instructions and tried to encourage him to make his block. But for at least a couple of plays, Gjere was just faking his way along while trying to get his bearings. "Things were a little hazy," he said.
Nearly 10 months later, things are a lot clearer now -- including the Irondale High grad's future. It definitely includes Gophers football, and probably soon. That's something he wasn't certain of in the immediate aftermath of the concussion he suffered in Michigan.
"When it's bothering you, you just don't know what's going to happen," Gjere said about his football career. "You've got to just take it slow, get through one day at a time. Get lots of sleep, get lots of rest and wait it out."
He waited seven more games last year, a disappointing end to a season in which he earned the starting job at right tackle despite being a redshirt freshman. He waited through spring practices, even though he felt better. And he waited all summer, though with team doctors' clearance, he resumed workouts and became one of the Gophers' strongest players.
He feels great now, Gjere said. And he doesn't like thinking too much about what last October and November was like.
"It was just miserable. Your whole body is messed up. Everything is screwed up," said the 20-year-old New Brighton native. "You're in a haze. I'd get dizzy just standing there. It's hard to function."
