Freeport RB Amos Glenn has burst onto the scene after knee injury: ‘I’ve surprised a lot of people’
BUFFALO TWP — Amos Glenn waited in the shadows.
Following a sophomore sabbatical from football, Freeport’s junior tailback has burst into the limelight, seemingly out of the blue.
“Nobody expects a kid who’s been out for so long — especially after surgery — to just come back and play like he used to,” Glenn said at the Yellowjackets’ practice Monday afternoon. “But I definitely think I’ve surprised a lot of people.”
“He’s been a really good kid on the come up here,” first-year Freeport offensive coordinator Dylan Henderson said. “What’s just really set him back is a few injuries. ... That’s kind of why he came out of nowhere. But he’s been with this group coming up and has been a huge part of their success.”
Glenn had torn his ACL, MCL and meniscus his knee during an eighth-grade football game with the ‘Jackets (3-2). The same knee was re-injured during his freshman basketball season, prompting him to get another operation.
Glenn and his family decided it would be best for him to sacrifice a football season to properly recover.
“It was tough, man,” Glenn said of sitting out last year. “Just watching from the sidelines was tough. I wanted to be out there so bad, but I knew I had to stay locked in and grind hard. ... I knew I had to be patient and couldn’t rush things back.”
He had a third surgery to fix his meniscus during last spring’s track season, but he is fully healthy now. The deliberate recovery process has paid quick dividends halfway through this campaign.
“Everything I took from (physical therapy), I would do at home, double, triple,” Glenn said. “If I had certain things hurting or my swelling was too bad, I’d look things up online to see what to do for that. ... I learned a lot during PT about my legs and just rehab in general.
“It was a hard journey — a lot of stuff I had to overcome. It was frustrating, but I just stayed true to myself, stayed disciplined and worked hard. I feel good. I’m back, I’m better, but it was definitely a hard road for me.”
Freeport is making a push to return to the playoffs after narrowly missing out in 2023. Glenn has rushed for 522 yards and a pair of scores on 83 carries.
“We always knew the talent that he had,” ‘Jackets head coach John Gaillot said. “It was just getting back into it. He really didn’t skip a beat.”
Henderson said he could tell Glenn would be a game-breaker right at the beginning of the summer. The assistant coach is adding wrinkles for the running back as the schedule progresses.
“We kind of have been slowly building on things,” Henderson said. “Even like on Friday, we pushed him out and had him play receiver a little bit more. The more we start going here and the closer we get to playoffs, we’ll add in things some other teams maybe haven’t seen.”
Freeport faces Valley (0-5) in Allegheny 7 Conference action at home Friday night.
