Braiden McGregor signing with New York Jets as free agent
Michigan defensive end Braiden McGregor overcame a lot in his four years at Michigan, including a knee injury suffered before he arrived on campus. He persevered, and now he’s going to get his shot at the NFL.
McGregor went undrafted in the 2024 NFL Draft but is set to sign with the New York Jets as free agent, grateful for everything he’s experienced … including the bad times.
“That was the hardest thing I’ve ever faced,” McGregor said of the knee injury that occurred in high school. “When it happened, I was supposed to early enroll and I was expecting spring ball and all that. As soon as I tore my knee up, I got surgery on it from a Michigan doctor. I felt like I was going to be back for spring ball. It was only going to be like six or seven months. Then COVID happened, so I only really got three or four months of rehab on my knee … it kind of set me back a little bit.
“My whole freshman year was just a wash because of the setback … mentally, it was really hard. But at the end of the day, I just kept focusing with the doctors and trusting them, and I guess really just grinding at getting the knee back and learning how to run again.”
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But he got it back, and now the 6-5, 257-pounder is ready to embark on his next journey. He set the tone in the Rose Bowl win over Alabama with an early sack, finished the season with 26 tackles (13 solo, 4.5 sacks), and gained the confidence needed to make it in the NFL.
“I would say the biggest thing is — and I know it sounds cliche — never doubt yourself,” he told Jon Jansen on the In the Trenches podcast last year. “Always bet on yourself. There’s a lot of times there where I was like, ‘I probably won’t play football ever again.’ I was 18 years old thinking, oh, I have all this great stuff ahead of me, and then it kind of gets stripped away quick and you have to earn it all back.”
There were other lessons he learned, McGregor added.
“I think it taught me to love your family and cherish every moment with them,” McGregor said. “Without them, I would not have been here or playing football. Definitely, with the injury, they helped out so much, my family, just trusting people that are professionals in their job. A lot of times in school I was like, ‘man, what are these teachers talking about?’ It’s the same thing that goes with doctors. They’re telling me, oh, you’re going to be good. [I’m thinking, ‘Man, my knee is never going to get good. It’s never going to get back to where it was,’ and he’s telling me it’s going to get back to where it was and stronger. I think that’s another lesson, trust people.”
He did, and how he’s trusting himself and others for a long NFL career.
