It's the first football game of the season, and for Western Michigan University redshirt sophomore reserve linebacker Damari Roberson, his heart was racing and the adrenaline was flowing 100 miles per hour.

His teammates were feeling about the same way at Michigan State University last Friday night, but for Roberson, it was something extra special. It was the first time he would play in a football game on something other than special teams in 1,811 days.

That's right….1,811 long, painstaking, mentally and physically grueling days.

"Once I got on the field at Michigan State, it was the best feeling ever,'' he says. ''Just walking out of the tunnel before the game, it was a dream come true that I'm working behind Zaire (Barnes, senior linebacker who is on the Senior Bowl watch list) and he's almost like my best friend and I'm ready to go in whenever he needs me.''

He'll be ready to go on Saturday when Western Michigan (0-1 overall) is at Ball State (0-1) for the Mid-American Conference opener for both schools. Game time is 2 p.m.

His football career wasn't supposed to be like this, though. He was a highly recruited wide receiver from Muskegon Mona Shores who was ready to commit to Northwestern University. WMU was recruiting him, too, but he wanted to go to the Big Ten.

Then the first knee injury happened.

''It was my junior year at Mona Shores and it was in our fifth game, against Jenison,'' he recalls. ''It was a read option play where I went to pull in the football, planted and the left knee just gave out when I made my cut.''

He didn't think it was that bad, so he went back in and played defense for a series, ''But when I went to make a hit, I had no power in my left leg,'' Roberson says. ''They found I had torn my ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) and I was done for the season.''

Take two…before the start of his senior year, the team was going to a 7-on-7 competition in Indiana. He ran a route, planted and the left knee went out again.

''I knew that one right away,'' he says. ''That was really tough and it took away my senior season.''

Roberson also had a tough decision to make. He could wait for a few weeks, sign his national letter of intent with Northwestern, then tell the school about his second knee injury. Or, ''my high school coach said I could be a man about it and call Northwestern right now let them know what had happened,'' Roberson said.

''I said, 'Coach, I want to call them right now.' Then I called Coach Lester (WMU head football coach) and Coach Espo (Lou Esposito, WMU defensive coordinator) and they wanted me to come to Western Michigan.''

Take three…in 2019, in his freshman preseason camp, he was running a corner route when he planted and injured the right knee, putting him out for the season. He would see very little special teams action in 2020 and no game action in 2021.

''When he came to us, he had just retorn the knee, so we worked really hard on rehab, he was kept at wide receiver and then he tore the other knee,'' Sarah McBrien, WMU assistant director of medical services and head trainer for football, says. ''That was pretty tough for him emotionally.

''In ACL surgery, there is a lot of pain and swelling. He did well, but it was hard on him because you are talking three surgeries. People aren't built to take that impact.''

The physical side would come around. It was the mental side which would take a while longer.

''It was a lot of long nights on the phone with my Mom and really asking myself about not letting down my family,'' Roberson says. ''They made sure I know I wasn't letting them down, just to do what is best for me.

''And I had to ask myself, what did I want in my life…what did I want to show my little brother who is now a freshman in college…to give up when stuff gets hard and adversity hits you in the face, do you quit, or if you keep going, you keep fighting.''

While McBrien was working on the knee, WMU football's strength and conditioning coach Grant Geib had Roberson working on the rest of his body. He put Roberson through an upper body routine so the linebacker wouldn't lose any strength.

''While the knee was getting healthy, we were working on his core, his arms, his shoulder, his chest, everything we could,'' Geib says. ''It gave him an outlet, let him release the stress and let him take it out on the weights so he knows he's getting better.

''Mentally, it's bad he can't play, but he still has something he can do to go forward. After he was able to start jogging, we transitioned him to football skills, like speed, agility, jump training and a lot of balance work to make sure he can anchor the knee and decelerate.

''A lot of times, the knees are under the most stress when you are slamming on the brakes, it's not when you are sprinting downfield.''

Lester made a decision before fall camp started in August to move Roberson from offense to defense. The sophomore started out in the defensive backfield as a safety, but his work in the weight room was making him bigger and bigger and bigger, ''So this year was the first time we tried him at linebacker and he's done a great job,'' the coach says.

In fact, Roberson had a solo tackle against Michigan State. Roberson's work this year could pay off for both him and Western Michigan down the road as other strong side linebackers – Barnes, Harrison Taylor and Delano Ware – are all seniors.

According to Lester, there was no thought of backing off of Roberson in high school when he suffered his second knee injury.

''There are so many kids over the years who got hurt and I'm one of them,'' Lester says.

Every day, Roberson's attitude and smile show through, especially when it comes to his interaction with Geib.

''He loves to yell at me,'' Geib says. ''He'll tell me, 'Coach, you aren't ready to work today if you don't wear your cleats to practice.

''Everyone in the program is so proud of him with what he has overcome, both physically and mentally, to be on the field this year. It's awesome to watch.''