Although Chris Givens could run like the North Texas wind, it was not a given that he would play college football.
Givens, Wake Forest's redshirt freshman slotback, was actually told twice that he might never play the sport again.
The first time was after he tore the anterior-cruciate ligament in his left knee in the second game of his junior season at Wylie High School. The second was after he tore the ACL in his right knee the fourth game of his senior season.
Only reconstructive surgery after the first injury kept Givens from having a matching set of mangled knees. But what kept him from giving up on himself and the game was his mother, Nicole Givens, and by extension, her strong faith.
"It was kind of tough being that I was young and in high school," Givens recalls. "My mom did a great job of helping me stay positive and everything and keeping God first.
"He blessed me, and here I am."
That Givens is off to a fast start at Wake Forest with 123 receiving and rushing yards going into Saturday's third game, against Elon, is a testament to faith -- Givens' faith in his religion and Wake Forest's faith in a strong will backed by modern medicine.
Although other schools -- wooed back by Givens' performance in track after the first surgery -- scattered after the second injury, Wake Forest remained steadfast in its recruitment. The Deacons never rescinded their scholarship offer, which Givens accepted only days after he tore his second ACL.
"Some people they backed off, and came back, and backed off," Givens recalled. "But Wake never backed off. That's what really stood out to me at the time.
"It's hard to find that kind of commitment, and once I found it, the decision became easy for me."
Coach Jim Grobe said that a previous experience at Wake Forest made it easier to trust in a full recovery.
Kevin Marion, a former wide receiver for the Deacons, also had two knee injuries in high school, and he regained enough speed to become a dangerous receiver and one of the ACC's most dreaded kick returners.
"I think a lot of times, the big guy hurts a knee, you kind of don't worry too much about that because he doesn't have to go run so much," Grobe said. "He can play inside.
"Most people worry about skill guys getting hurt. But after we had Kevin Marion come in and still run pretty fast, we thought, ‘We don't worry about that, especially if it will give us a chance to recruit a kid that other people have backed off.' "
The problem that did concern Grobe was rustiness. Givens needed to rehabilitate from the second surgery, and then was redshirted his first season at Wake Forest to preserve his eligibility.
When Givens took the field in this season's opener against Baylor, he had played in only six football games in three years.
"So all the stuff you're seeing him do right now is for the first time in a long time," Grobe said. "It's been a tough transition, and we're pretty demanding.
"But it's been fun to watch him grow and develop. He's starting to do some good stuff."
With Givens alternating with Devon Brown, an elusive and quick sophomore who leads the Deacons with 93 yards rushing, the slot-receiver position is a strength.
Demir Boldin led the ACC last season with 81 catches but was not a particularly dangerous threat on sweeps or reverses.
At least not like his predecessors at the position, such as Fabian Davis and Kenneth Moore.
"It's given us a little bit of a different dimension," Grobe said. "We're not always having to hand the ball to the tailback or always having to throw to the split end."
dcollins@wsjournal.com 727-7323
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