Virginia Tech punter A.J. Hughes tweeted this evening that he will have back surgery. Virginia Tech confirms Hughes is having surgery to take place in Indiana to repair a slight disc herniation in his lower back. He played through said injury the season. He is expected back full for the spring.
Huge shoutout to my All-American LongSnapper @EDantuono for being put on scholarship today!!! You earned it man so happy for u nd ur family
— AJ Hughes (@AJ_HughesVT) January 12, 2015
this Wed. Looking forward to finally getting back to 100% and getting back to my normal bomb dropping self. Keep me in ur prayers #Hokies
— AJ Hughes (@AJ_HughesVT) January 13, 2015
Welp, kicked throu it all season but unfortunately it's kicking back.. So it's in my best interest to go under the knife for back surgery
— AJ Hughes (@AJ_HughesVT) January 13, 2015
Minor Set Back for an Even Bigger Come Back #LastAtBat #PunterSwag #HokieNation
— AJ Hughes (@AJ_HughesVT) January 13, 2015
Hughes has been Tech's primary punter since his freshman season in 2012. Both the ACC's media and coaches selected him to their respective all-conference teams in 2013. Even though his punt distance was down (through November), the fourth down captain helped Tech improve its field position by two yards in 2014. Hughes has also accounted for 5 tackles over his career, none bigger than his momentum shifting forced fumble against Miami in 2013.
Hughes' #PunterSwag can not be quantified.
Comments
Good luck, AJ. Rest and rehab, then come back strong.
Also, another instance of a Virginia Tech football player playing through and toughing out an injury. (That happens a lot.)
With how solid he was this year with a bad back, it's encouraging to think how good he could be next year healthy again.
I'm not too caught up with punters across the country, but does he have an NFL future down the line?
So hard to say with kickers/punters. No team carries more than one punter so there are only 32 jobs available and guys can punt a long time so age doesn't factor in as much as at most positions.
Get well soon but rest up AJ. One of the toughest punters I have seen in quite a while.
Where's the dislike button?
I hope he gets well soon and comes back better than ever! I love me some punterswag!
I had to look up that he was from Indiana. I didn't know if the hat was because he was a true fan or a nod to the similarly swaggy Pat McAfee. Probably both.
On camera, with skateboard: "Yes! I'll take it..."
Immediately off camera: "okay, that hurt."
Not surprised: he's been carrying this team for years
/drops mike
I was going to I ask if he followed it up with a tweet about carrying the team.
It kills me that he spelled it "excepted" instead of "accepted"
Antone Exum says please do not skateboard on ice during the offseason if you are a virginia tech football player.
I thought it was a basketball injury he had. Was it actually Exumtaur's production of Skateboard on Ice?
That Wake Forest game was just too much for the 4th-down-QB to take. See what happens!
A.J. says things went well, if a bit painful: