Utah quarterback Cam Rising announced Wednesday that he’s medically retiring from football.
The former Texas QB had the option of returning to school for another season via a medical redshirt from the 2024 season. But Rising said Wednesday that he was forced to stop playing football because of the hand injury he suffered against Baylor early in 2024.
“Due to a hand injury I suffered during the Baylor game, I’ve been advised by two orthopedic physicians that I will never be able to return to playing football,” Rising said. “I’ll be obtaining a third medical opinion and will undergo the recommended surgery. I will continue to rehab and do all I can to get healthy. In the meantime, I will unfortunately be forced to medically retire from the game I love.”
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Rising was pushed into a table at the Gatorade station on the Baylor sideline in the first half of their September matchup. He didn’t return to the game. Rising returned in October and started a loss against Arizona State, but suffered a leg injury that ultimately sidelined him for the rest of the season.
Rising’s college career was marred by injuries. He redshirted at Texas in 2018 and redshirted at Utah the following season. In 2020, he started against USC and then suffered a season-ending shoulder injury.
In 2021, Rising became the Utes’ starting quarterback in the third game of the season. He threw for 20 TDs over 13 games with just five interceptions. The next year, Rising was the team’s undisputed starter and completed 65% of his passes for 3,034 yards and 26 TDs with just eight interceptions. However, he suffered a devastating knee injury in the Rose Bowl against Penn State.
That knee injury caused him to miss the entirety of the 2023 season, though his status for much of the year was publicly unknown thanks to Utah’s injury disclosure policy. The question of Rising’s possible return to the field loomed for much of the season as the Utes struggled to find reliable quarterback play.
In November of 2023, Rising said he’d be back for the 2024 season, but that was limited to just three games. He was the No. 8 pro-style quarterback in the class of 2018, according to Rivals. That high school recruiting class included NFL starters Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields along with Pro Bowlers Amon-Ra St. Brown, Micah Parsons and Patrick Surtain.
