Dan Persa can’t catch a break. The former Northwestern quarterback needs a second surgery on his right Achilles tendon, and that could spell the end of his football career.
“If football doesn’t work out,” he told the Tribune on Tuesday, “I’m OK with it.”
Persa blew out the Achilles after firing a game-winning touchdown pass to beat Iowa on Nov. 13, 2010. It turns out he had two setbacks in his rehabilitation — in April and June. Both occurred while he was running, and both were thought to be calf injuries.
Persa still managed to complete 73.4 percent of his passes last season but could barely run. A year after rushing for 519 yards and earning first-team All-Big Ten honors, he finished with 32.
During a tryout with the Buccaneers in early May, Persa tweaked the same area. His Chicago-based agent, Mike McCartney, sent him to see David Porter, a foot and ankle specialist and an orthopedic consultant to the Colts.
“He said my foot was at 65 percent,” Persa said, “and during the season, it was probably at 50 percent. He said: ‘If you ever want it to be semi-normal again, you have to have another surgery.'”
While he waits to undergo surgery in August, Persa will network with NU alums. Consulting and commercial real estate are among his interests.
Even knowing what he knows now, Persa is glad he did not seek a medical redshirt last season.
“Six years at a place is a long time,” he said. “If I never play again, I’m happy with what I’ve done.”
