Saskatchewan Huskies’ Anton Amundrud accomplished something amazing on the football field last Friday that was made even more remarkable considering he was battling cancer just months ago.
The fifth-year quarterback was named Canada West offensive player of the week on Tuesday after throwing for six touchdown passes – second-most in school history – in a 65-12 blowout win over the Alberta Golden Bears.
That’s impressive enough. And then you factor in the “hell he’s been through,” SportsCage regular Arash Madani said. He called Amundrud’s comeback through to Friday’s performance “incredible.”
“When you think about this dude at the beginning of the year, (he) went from 205 to 173 pounds – skin and bones,” Madani said. “The first week of April, he gets the clean bill of health. His first call was to his parents to let them know, ‘Hey, I’m cancer-free.’ Mom starts to cry. The next call was to Joel Lipinski, the Huskies strength coach. He had one message for Joel. He said, ‘Let’s let it rip.’”
Amundrud has been doing just that this season. He has 879 yards passing and nine touchdowns in three games for the 2-1 Huskies.
To suggest it was a long road to get back to the point where he was an excellent quarterback again would be underselling it immensely.
“We’re talking about a dude who just a few months before couldn’t walk up the stairs or do a push-up,” Madani said. “His knees were too weak to even think about breaking a sweat. And then they had to turn him back into a university football quarterback.
“The journey started with building Anton’s joint stability back and then his cardio. He began walking on a treadmill. The first day he lasted only two minutes. They incrementally started increasing the volume. Then they started building shoulder strength and shoulder stability.”
The biggest challenge was relearning to throw the football effectively with the external and internal rotations required, Madani said.
“They went from all of that – literally from rock bottom – to May, getting back on the field, doing some individual work,” Madani said. “And now he’s out there slinging it and throwing six touchdowns.
“It’s an amazing story. This dude’s wanted it. Man, is he stubborn because, damn, the perseverance is incredible.”
Amundrud’s Huskies are back at it Sunday afternoon when they visit the Regina Rams, who are also 2-1. Game time is 2 p.m.
Check out the full segment below, which includes plenty of CFL talk.
