By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
It’s nearly been a year since Baylor football senior tight end Drake Dabney had surgery for a broken fibula. Dabney suffered the injury during the Bears’ 45-17 win at Texas Tech on Oct. 29, 2022. He wound up having surgery three days later, starting several months of recovery and rehabilitation.
Dabney had had surgery on his foot before, but he said he’s never had his world turned upside down quite like that.
“That was the first time I really just went down,” Dabney said. “I was like, oh! It was kind of scary. I don’t know what it is or what happened. It’s not easy but it happened for a reason and I’m grateful for what it taught me.”
Dabney saw action in eight games in 2022 before having to sit out the final five. He caught 16 passes for 173 yards, but at that time he was forced to start an unfamiliar process, something he wasn’t sure he was comfortable doing.
“Early on it was hard because I’m a very independent person,” Dabney said. “So I don’t like to depend on people or need help, but I think the biggest thing for me was just to get out of my own head and just say, ‘Hey, there’s a great support system through my friends and family and teammates that want to be there for me.’”
The 6-foot-5 tight end said those people around him helped him commit to rehab and spark confidence to get back onto the field. And while Dabney’s injury allowed someone like sophomore tight end Kelsey Johnson to get more playing time, it still sent a shockwave through the position room.
“I never want a guy in front of me to go down even though that will make me shine more,” Johnson said. “I love him like a brother, so him going down hurt me too.”
The Cypress native finished rehab and was back on the field within weeks of the end of the 2022 season. He said the entire process really put the game he loves into perspective moving forward.
“I know sometimes we can often take things for granted,” Dabney said. “You do the same thing every day, you can kind of get lost in the sauce. … You never know when that last snap or last down is. I just thank God for having me here and bringing me through what I’ve been through.”
Dabney made his presence known in his first game back from injury, the 2023 season-opener against Texas State on Sept. 2 at McLane Stadium. The Bears lost that game 42-31, but Dabney notched career highs in basically every pass-catching category.
The senior went for 101 receiving yards on six catches, and he hauled in two TDs. All three of those marked new career highs, and Dabney became the first tight end in program history to accumulate 100 or more receiving yards since Ken Hodge in 1964.
Head coach Dave Aranda said he tasked Dabney with having an impact like that straight out of the gates.
“The challenge that I’ve given to him is that he could kind of continue to get these catches and have these runs and do these things,” Aranda said. “And I think some of those are strengths of his. And there are always ways we can get better with our strengths, but for him to work on his blocking to continue to be on special teams, I think those are things that can show him the best, not only for our team but also for him at the next level. And I know he’s committed to that.”
Dabney’s early season success hit a little different for the tight ends around him, specifically Johnson whose been there with him during the journey.
“Just seeing him go through everything with a good attitude, he mentored me on the sideline with a good attitude and not being down,” Johnson said. “I had no choice but to be happy for him.”
Dabney has 250 receiving yards on 17 catches to go with three TDs. He caught his third TD in the Bears’ week three win over Long Island. He’s also up to 20 career starts in 35 total games played.
But the current focus lies on Saturday’s homecoming contest against Iowa State, which is something Dabney said he’s excited about. Being a senior, Dabney said he understands the importance of protecting the home field on homecoming, something Baylor has done in 11 of its last 12 years, including four straight wins.
Dabney said the team takes a lot of pride in protecting Baylor’s name.
“[We] just want to be able to give the fans a win and just show them that we’re still Baylor,” Dabney said. “We talk about protecting that brand and just going out and really showing what we’re capable of and playing to our full potential [on] Saturday.”
Dabney’s true freshman season (2020) saw the Bears go 2-7 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that the unusual year and the historic 2021 season give him a unique perspective on Baylor football.
The Cypress Ranch High School graduate said he’s truly ridden the roller coaster.
“One thing I’ve learned is that winning is hard in this league and it takes what it takes honestly,” Dabney said. “You have to be willing to sacrifice and just do all the small little details that it takes, but I’m honestly grateful for the ups and the downs and the lessons that I’ve learned. I feel like God has put me here and just the rest of this group I’m around here for a reason. I just think it’s been very special up to this point, and I’m just excited to see how we can finish off the season on a good note.”
With the Bears sitting at 3-4 overall and 2-2 in Big 12 play, Dabney said the team still has a lot to play for. If they win three of their next five, then they’ll be bowl-eligible for the third straight season.
“I think just stacking a win and getting this one this week will propel us into even more wins,” Dabney said. “Who knows what the possibilities are and how people’s records are going to shake out? So I think we can handle ourselves and focus on ourselves and what we need to do. I think it’ll work out for us.”
And while he doesn’t like to think about it since his focus is on this season, Dabney is still figuring out what his future looks like. He said his goal is to see if there’s a path to the NFL, but he’s already thinking of some backup options if that doesn’t work out.
One in particular that stood out is being on a NASCAR pit crew team. Dabney said he was on vacation and met a nice couple with a son who played Division I football. They told Dabney their son was on a pit team and that he would be a perfect fit for it.
Dabney talked about this potential path in an interview with Baylor+, and he said he’s been getting interest from lots of people.
“I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do if football didn’t work out, so I was like, this may be something to keep me around that team environment,” Dabney said. “I was actually surprised how many people saw that and reached out and had connections
for me.”
But Dabney said his eyes are still fixated on getting back to a bowl game. He said he hopes to build on success he had found halfway through the season and continue to give thanks for coming back from that injury.
“I guess when you look back, the lows weren’t really as low as they seemed in that time,” Dabney said. “But I think it just molded me and shaped me into the man I am today. So I’m grateful for it all.”
