D.J. Matthews was a rare spark for IU in 2021. Until he got hurt. He's back and motivated.

BLOOMINGTON — He hasn’t watched a video of it — the play that ended his season, where he stepped awkwardly, laid on the ground, held his knee.

It was during IU's game at Western Kentucky last season. D.J. Matthews Jr. was tracking a punt during the first quarter. Matthews, though, couldn’t secure the football on the first try. The ball squirted loose. “Get down on it,” he remembers telling himself. He stepped awkwardly before dropping to the ground and securing the ball. Matthews said he’s taken a lot of big hits in his career and usually gets right up.

He didn’t this time.

“I’ve been playing football a long time and it just was a feeling I’d just never felt,” he said.

That play, and subsequent torn ACL, ended Matthews' season.

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Fast forward to August. Early in the month, IU coach Tom Allen said Matthews is expected to be ready for the season opener against Illinois on Sept. 2. During Monday’s media availability, he was asked if there was a day he felt comfortable and didn't have to worry about the injury.

That day was Sunday. During moments of his answer, he smiled.

“Just stacked another day,” Matthews said. “I felt like myself again.”

Last season, amid a disappointing campaign for the Hoosiers, there were few moments that brought true exhilaration. But before his torn ACL, Matthews brought a certain electricity to the field. Against Idaho, he had an 81-yard punt return touchdown. Against Cincinnati, he had 148 all-purpose yards, including a rushing touchdown. Simply put, he was a reason to watch the Hoosiers.

But then came the injury against Western Kentucky.

Just because Matthews was smiling during moments of Monday’s media availability doesn’t mean the smile has always been there. Later during Monday’s chat with the media, he reflected on the injury and watching IU struggle. “It was pretty hard,” Matthews said. “Like I tell my parents, like I tell coach Allen, that’s probably the first time I ever had my heart broken, you know, it really sent me under.”

Matthews said his daughter and son were his biggest motivation. His daughter is now 2 years old. His son is now 1 1/2. Back when Matthews came out of surgery, his daughter was there. “Daddy, you OK?” he remembers his daughter repeating. “Daddy, you OK?”

“Like she kept asking me cause she’s used to seeing me smile and I wasn’t smiling then,” Matthews said. “I was like heading into a depressing stage, but, you know, my kids and family — they kept me out of it.”

Matthews earlier said of his daughter: “She would grab my football at times and just run through the hallways and stuff and it just like made me smile. And at times I would cry like ‘Wow, like she really knows what her dad do.’”

It was a difficult decision for Matthews on whether he would return to IU this season. “I was telling my parents that pretty much that I was done,” he said. It’s important to understand the context of his college career. Matthews started at Florida State. He played 35 games for the Seminoles, while enduring a carousel of FSU coaches. In 2020, he entered the transfer portal (he didn't play that season), and transferred to IU. Last season, his first season playing with the Hoosiers, he tore his ACL during IU's fourth game.

That’s all to say that Matthews has been through a lot. It’s now 2022. It has been about a half-decade since his freshman season in 2017. But ultimately, Matthews decided to return to IU for this season. It was in part due to his relationship with Allen, who assisted him through the decision-making process.

“I wanted him to be here because he wanted to be here and his heart told him that this was where he's supposed to be,” Allen said. “We just went through that process together, you know, and just really so thrilled that he chose to stay and just think he’s just a really special person.”

Matthews also wanted to set an example for his children.

“I never want to quit,” he said. “My children look up to me. I’m their hero, so when they get older they (are going to) see the trials and tribulations that their dad went through, and a lot of adversity that I faced. And I don’t (ever) want them to see that I quit anything. You know, finish out no matter the outcome.”

Matthews has sore days. Plus, there have been mental hurdles. But on Sunday, he felt like himself. And again on Monday. Stacked another day. Perhaps it’s a journey — a storm — that can best be measured by his smile, which hasn’t gone away forever.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana football: DJ Matthews return from injury welcomed by Hoosiers