John Boyett confirms that he will have season ending knee surgery

The news that we feared has been unfortunately confirmed tonight. John Boyett confirmed to the Napa Valley Register that he will have surgery to repair partial tears of both patellar tendons. He read the following prepared statement:

I’ve had a lingering injury that I played through all last year. The hope was, through different treatments and certain types of rehab during this past offseason, they would heal up and I’d be ready to go for my senior year. But unfortunately, it didn’t work out as planned. I’ve been dealing with a tremendous amount of pain for a long time. At this time, I’m not able to play up to this level that I want to. Five different specialists from around the country have reviewed my MRIs and at this time surgery is needed. The operation is scheduled for Wednesday and the rehab process to get back to 100 percent is approximately six months. It’s a very difficult decision. I have tremendous teammates and made many friends at the university. I’ve grown tremendously as a player and as a person, working under my great defensive back coach, Coach John Neal and the defensive coordinator, Nick Aliotti, who recruited me to the University of Oregon.

This is simply devastating news, as this effectively ends Boyett's career as a Duck. Already having redshirted, there is little chance he would receive a waiver from the NCAA to play another season. Boyett has been a leader on the defense for 3 years, and he will be sorely missed, not only for his on-the-field production, but because he played with a fearlessness and tenacity not seen often.

The Ducks now face a tough situation at safety. Boyett is probably the player on the roster toughest to replace. There is little proven talent behind him, nor have the knack for playing free safety. In fact, Boyett is the only player on the roster listed as a free safety. The Ducks will need Avery Patterson and the rest of the secondary to step up quickly. Luckily they will have another game before conference play begins.