ORONO, Maine — Last year at this time, Mike Kozlakowski was champing at the bit to return to the football field.
The University of Maine defensive end had missed the entire 2013 season due to a ruptured left biceps muscle and couldn’t wait to play. The long wait came to an end when Maine hosted Norfolk State last August.
Maine won the game 10-6 but, with two minutes left in the game, Kozlakowski ruptured the biceps muscle in his right arm, which promptly ended his season.
He since has graduated with a degree in business management but he is back for this season and possibly one more.
Kozlakowski, who redshirted as a freshman, has applied to the NCAA for a sixth-year waiver because of his injury woes. Student-athletes have five years in which to complete four years of eligibility but a sixth year can be granted under those aforementioned circumstances.
Under NCAA rules, the institution must prove the student-athlete missed two full seasons for reasons out of his or her control, such as an incapacitating injury, to be granted the waiver and a sixth year.
“I feel good. I’m ready to go,” said Kozlakowski, who led the team in tackles-for-loss in 2012 with 9.5 and was second in sacks with five. He was sixth on the team in tackles with 47.
He said when he suffered the injury against Norfolk State, he didn’t feel sorry for himself or question whether he would return this season.
“I love football,” said Kozlakowski. “The second (the injury) happened, I knew the process ahead (to recover). The process is a little lengthy but if you stay positive, it flies by.
“Everything happens for a reason,” he said.
Kozlakowski credited Maine head athletic trainer Ryan Taylor and his staff for “helping me out tremendously.” He participated in spring football and said he feels “faster and stronger than ever.”
Kozlakowski has been an inspiration to his teammates.
“He’s a competitor. There was no question he was going to be back,” said senior center Bruce Johnson. “He has gotten his body back the way it was and he is in even better shape now.
“I’m definitely excited to see what he is going to bring,” Johnson added.
“He has been through a lot. I’m proud of him,” said junior linebacker Christophe Mulumba Tshimanga. “Some people get hurt and quit. He has kept working hard to come back. I’m happy that he will finally get to play after missing two seasons.”
The 22-year-old Kozlakowski said his coaches and teammates motivate him.
“When you see your teammates looking up to you, it makes you want to get out there and be better than you were before,” said Kozlakowski, a native of Lynbrook, New York.
“I’m looking for a blowout season,” he said. “I’m not going to make any promises but I just want to perform for my teammates, my family and my friends and have a good time playing football. I love everyone here. I can’t see myself being anywhere else.”
He will take a limited course load while meeting NCAA requirements for a graduate student but if he is granted a sixth year, he said he will work toward a master’s degree in business management.
“He has committed himself to this season in a way which is special and unique because of what he has been through,” said Maine coach Jack Cosgrove. “He loves the game. I hope it works out for him.”