Justin Dunning's inspirational journey in football and beyond

Key notes from Justin Dunning interview

• The decision to stop playing wasn’t tough at the time because I said the year before that if I ever got hurt again, it would probably be time to hang it up. I think I did a good job of showing people that no matter how hard, you can come back.
   
• You have to put your entire focus on football when you are playing. Now that I can step back, I really want to focus on some of my other passions. I enjoy reading and writing; I want to someday write my own autobiography so I can tell the story of the life I’ve lived to other people.
   
• I never suffered any kind of injuries playing football until that first knee injury in high school. When people started recruiting me I was known as the football player Justin Dunning and I really liked that. Then with that injury, football was taken away from me. It made me realize that you can’t identify yourself with something temporary like football. Coach Sumlin was one of the first coaches to call me after the injury and told me that he and A&M were going to honor my scholarship. That was one of the major reasons I decided to come here.
   
• My senior year of high school was just amazing being able to get back on the field. The season didn’t go the way we wanted to as a team, but it was such a great feeling to be able to play again.
   
• The game before that injury at Kyle Field I was able to get my first interception. I was able to look up and see all the people screaming and cheering for me. The next game I was covering a punt, I started to break down and try to make a tackle and I just knew. Before I got to the sideline, I knew it was torn. I just told myself I had already bounced back once and I could do it again.
   
• The ACL tear in 2016 fall camp was one of the most disappointing moments of my life. I think I did a great job recovering and then to have that injury on my other knee that I never had any problems with was hard. When I hit the ground I just started crying. That injury was the hardest because the season hadn’t even started and it was over. I stayed at home for like two weeks, just isolated myself away from everyone else. I decided I was going to retire and that was it.
   
• A few days later I went and talked to Mikado Hinson and he talked to me and supported me all the way. He told me they had a guest speaker for a team meeting the next day and I should come. The guest speaker was Inky Johnson and it felt like everything he said that day was speaking right to me. I called him that night and he was able to give me some advice and talk through things. He told me to make the decision that, no matter what, I could live with.
   
• The support that I got from everyone after posting the Twitter video of my rehab was one of the greatest moments of my life. The support I received from everyone really helped change my perspective and helped me realize that I was living for something bigger than myself. After that I attacked my rehab even harder and knew I had to get back on the field.
   
• I went to sit down with Coach Sumlin to talk about my future and what his plans were for me. He was that same guy that was there for me in the recruiting process. He was very empathetic and I knew how much he cared for me. He wanted what was best for me at the end of the day. My teammates were great throughout the journey, especially Kendall Bussey.
   
• Getting back on the field was something I wanted to do for the team and changing positions was what the team needed. I was out for so long that I was able to really learn the defense by just sitting in the room with Chief. Coach Price also did a really great job of teaching me the ins and outs of playing defensive end. Another great thing about Coach Sumlin was that I wanted to practice in the spring, but he wanted me to be able to play and if something was going to happen, he wanted it to happen in a game, not spring ball so he held me out of practice.
   
• My knee had been kind of on-and-off throughout this last season. I think I knew that my career was done after that play against Ole Miss. By that point in the season, my knee was swelling up after every practice. It was time. I wanted to leave a legacy at Texas A&M and be able to share my story with other people and I think I accomplished that.
   
• Moving forward, I want to be able to write and tell my story, because I think it is very interesting. I also could see myself doing public speaking and helping spread my message. I could see myself talking to teams kind of like Inky Johnson did at Texas A&M.
   
• The one thing I could say I’ve learned through all of this is that I have established an identity outside of my occupation. I had to learn who I was outside of football. I always knew in the back of my mind that I was destined for something greater. My one promise to myself when I came back was to have no regrets. I wanted people to see my story and know that no matter what adversity you face, you can fight back.
   
• It was hard to say  goodbye to Coach Sumlin. He talked to me after I put out the announcement of my retirement and was very supportive of me and even told me that I was able to inspire him. The thing that people have to understand is that Kevin Sumlin is a great man. It’s hard to see him go.
   
• Coach Fisher has brought in a great staff and it almost made me want to come back and give it another go. It’s fun being able to sit back and watch as a fan instead of being in the room. I think some great things are coming to Aggieland. I can say that I am excited to see what Jerry Schmidt will be doing from the outside. I’ve heard some stories about his workouts.