Kentucky defensive linemen Tavion Gadson and Josaih Hayes have been named to the 2025 Comeback Player of the Year Award Watch List.
The award recognizes college football players for overcoming injury, illness or other circumstances.
Gadson is returning from a knee injury while Hayes is coming back from a torn Achilles tendon.
Here is a press release from UK Athletics:
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky defensive linemen Tavion Gadson and Josaih Hayes have been named to the 2025 Comeback Player of the Year Award Watch List, announced today by the College Sports Communicators (CSC) in association with The Associated Press (AP) and the Fiesta Bowl Organization.
Gadson, a sophomore from Savannah, Georgia, was forced to miss the first eight games of 2024, his redshirt freshman season, after suffering a knee injury in April that required him to undergo left knee surgery for posterior lateral corner reconstruction, a bicep femoris repair, and a fibular collateral ligament repair. Gadson excelled in his rehabilitation, returning to play vs. Tennessee on Nov. 2 and Murray State on Nov. 16 before a left hamstring injury forced him to miss the final two regular-season games.
Hayes, a senior from Horn Lake, Mississippi, missed the first nine games of 2024 after suffering a torn Achilles tendon in his left foot in March. He returned to action vs. Murray State on Nov. 16 and played in the final three games, totaling nine tackles and a tackle for loss.
Hayes enters his senior season on the defensive line ready to make a significant impact after already playing in 45 career games with four starting assignments. He has totaled 57 tackles, including 7.0 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, three pass breakups, a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry.
Since 2018, the award has recognized college football student-athletes for overcoming injury, illness, or other circumstances. At the conclusion of each season, in a vote by a panel of college football writers, editors, and sports information directors, three college football student-athletes are honored as Comeback Player of the Year Award winners at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.
Previous winners of the Comeback Player of the Year Award include: 2024: Ike Larsen (Utah); Raheim Sanders (South Carolina); Tyler Shough (Louisville); 2023 – Blake Corum (Michigan); Jacob Dobbs (Holy Cross); Mike Hollins (Virginia); 2022 – Mohamed Ibrahim (Minnesota); Laiatu Latu (UCLA); Michael Penix Jr. (Washington); 2021 – Aidan Hutchinson (Michigan); McKenzie Milton (Florida State); J.J. Weaver (Kentucky); 2020 – Jarek Broussard (Colorado); Kenneth Horsey (Kentucky); Silas Kelly (Coastal Carolina); 2019 – Jake Luton (Oregon State); Drew Wilson (Georgia Southern); Octavion Wilson (Salisbury); 2018 – Antwan Dixon (Kent State), Seth Simmer (Dartmouth); Antonio Wimbush (Carson-Newman). For a complete list of past honsorees, visit www.Comeback-Player.com.
