If you don't like the tenacity and determination of Robert Marve, then I don't know what it would take to get you to like a football player. The sixth-year QB is continuing to work his way back from a third ACL injury -- this time being described as a "partial tear." Last week, Marve was cleared for "individual drills," and Danny Hope says he looks good.
“I anticipate him being cleared and starting to get team reps,” Hope said Tuesday. “The little bit I watched him he looked good. I can’t tell any difference. He doesn’t run full speed in practice, but he looks good on his drops and looks confident with his feet underneath him and he’s throwing the ball well. Looks like he’s going to make a comeback.”
In addition, Mike Lopresti has an article about Marve's hard luck that b-dowd tweeted out earlier today. It reminds you of just what a long, difficult road Marve has had and, at least for me, reinforces what I really like about this guy -- his aforementioned perseverance. Just like we said about Rob Hummel a couple of years ago, if I was a college D1 athlete and tore my knee up multiple times, I would probably just want to stay in bed and cry. These guys are almost immediately positive and thinking about getting back out there with their teammates.
"From the outside looking in, three ACLs, it's not looking the best. and I'm OK with whatever happens," Marve said. "My main focus right now is to get back on the field and show the coaches and my teammates I can still sling it around. I really wanted the Purdue fans to see me playing normal."
We want to see that, too, Robert. But at the same time, as much as we loved watching him play and think the offense is far better with Marve under center, there's a big part of us here at BS that wants to see him hang it up.
That's very hard for us to say, as you probably know from reading us. But my fear is that Marve's knee is in the exact same condition it was in prior to the Toledo game in 2010. We knew at the time that something wasn't right. Marve had fallen awkwardly against Ball State and was said to have a "sprained" knee. He was hobbling on the sidelines and wasn't able to get back into the game. Then he started against Toledo and early on, on nothing more than a dropback, his knee folded, Marve crumpled to the ground and that was that. I truly fear that this is what we'll see the next time he's on the field. I sincerely hope that I am wrong.
So we say this to Robert -- thank you for wanting so badly to be back in front of the devoted Purdue fans. This is a guy who is truly giving everything he has for the team.
Hail to our old gold and black, indeed.