It was back on April 15th, 2018 when we discussed the truly unfortunate circumstances of what has been an injury plagued football career for Amadeo West.

None of us ever wants to see any player face an injury, but from where I sit, it hits a little closer to home when that player has so much potential and promise, but it never materializes, because of injuries ... which of course it is no fault of their own.

Well, the senior out of Oceanside, California has one more shot after missing the entire 2017 football campaign with an ACL injury and then ruptured his achilles in March while in practice while during sprints, where he only played 5 games in 2018.

“I’m really hoping to bounce back in 2019,” West told GoBlackKnights.com, who shared that he can relate to the physical and mental climb back of athletes like NBA All-Star guard Klay Thompson, who torn his ACL in the 2019 NBA Finals.

“I can completely relate,” declared West. “It’s definitely a humbly experience. It sits you out of what you love the most. You learn a lot about yourself outside of the game, so you can’t just rely on football to define who you are ... you have to learn about family, friends, pick up a hobby and be better at other aspects of your life, but at the same time maintain the standard that makes you better. I’m going to get back on the football field and uphold the standard of this football team.”

Fans are both anxious and excited to see West back on the field playing his normal outside linebacker in the base defense against the triple option and playing defensive end in Army’s dime package. Against spread offenses he will be playing D-end.

“I love defensive end,” said a laughing West, when asked does he have a favorite position between the two.

According to the veteran though, practice is where it all begins and that as a team, they will have to pick up the pace, even though it’s the early part of training camp.

“I’m not going to sugar coated to you, practice could be a lot better,” he firmly declared. “We don’t look like a team that’s ready for the season, but you know that’s summer camp and we just have to improve if we want to tackle August 30th and we know our opponent is going to be ready ... we have to improve.”

So, what are West’s camp and season goals?

“For camp it’s staying healthy and that foremost,” he explained. “I owe it to my teammates to being in the training room everyday, sleeping right and doing everything I can to take care of my body. For practice, they are holding me out some periods and my body needs that with all the surgeries that I had. So, I owe it to my teammates to keep my body in shape and ready to go for August 30th.”

“For the season it’s definitely having zero efforts. We have this thing have loafs where you have if you are jogging and not giving 110% effort and that’s defined as a loaf and I want zero on the season personally and just be the foundation for this team come ready to work everyday on and off the field.”

Currently West is down in his weight, where he now measures in at 6-foot-2, 245 pound, which according to the senior is a more fitting size to carry into his final football campaign

“Actually I dropped weight, I was 262 pounds when I ruptured my Achilles,” he shared. “I tried to be too big and a player that I wasn’t and my game is more explosive and quick, so I lost 20-pounds and got back to my game.”

What West brings to the table and what the 2019 team needs is his relentless effort and leadership and of course the players within the program have great respect for him.

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