It took just three games for Anthony Jefferson’s dreams to derail.
As a senior at Cathedral High School in Los Angeles, the now-redshirt senior defensive back dominated on both sides of the ball. As a wide receiver, he had 63 catches for 1,286 yards and 15 touchdowns. He added 42 tackles and two interceptions on defense, earning a consensus four-star rating and a top-20 national ranking as an athlete.
During his freshman year at UCLA in 2010, he quickly burned his redshirt and earned playing time on defense and special teams. Jefferson had high expectations for himself and seemed on track to achieve them.
But it only lasted three games.
Running downfield on a kickoff against Cal, Jefferson broke his foot in what he called a freak injury. His freshman season was over.
After about half a year of hard rehab, Jefferson returned to spring practice with his foot fully healed and ready to compete for more playing time. His injury was merely a speed bump in his development.
Jefferson said he was feeling great – until he wasn’t.
“I just remember I was out here at practice one day and my back just started hurting as I was running,” Jefferson said. “Then I went down to the weight room and did a couple lifts and it just escalated.”
A couple weeks later, with the pain worsening, Jefferson went to get an MRI. It came back with more bad news: Jefferson had a herniated disc in his back and would need surgery.
After months of hard work rehabilitating his body from the broken foot, Jefferson was given the news that he would miss the entire next season as well.
“It was really tough, man,” Jefferson said with a heavy sigh. “Especially when I was younger. I had so much high expectations for myself. It really hurt.”
Jefferson’s next year of recovery was an eventful one for UCLA. The Bruins fired coach Rick Neuheisel and brought in an entirely new coaching staff. Joining them was a group of talented incoming freshmen, including four-star cornerbacks Ishmael Adams and Marcus Rios as well as three-star safety Randall Goforth.
With essentially no film or stats to show the new coaches and a new crop of gifted defensive backs, Jefferson was worried he’d be left behind in the transition.
“Everyone kinda has that in the back of their mind, like, ‘It just sucks I’m so far behind and everyone’s even better,’” Jefferson said.
While Jefferson’s body had mostly healed from the two severe injuries, his mind had not yet caught up.
“When I first got here, he was kind of in a dark place there,” said coach Jim Mora.
Mora and his staff made certain Jefferson’s concerns were unnecessary. Although they were unfamiliar with Jefferson, having neither recruited him nor seen him play yet in college, they gave him a chance to prove himself with a clean slate.
Jefferson jumped at the opportunity, but in the eight games he played in 2012, he felt like something was holding him back. His body still wasn’t right.
Having missed nearly a full two years because of injuries, Jefferson was faced with the possibility that his body may not return to where it was before his adversity all began.
“It’s really scary man, ’cause I would go talk to doctors and everything and they’re just like, ‘Sometimes your body just doesn’t respond well to the surgery,’” Jefferson said.
He was back on the field, but no closer to reaching his goals.
So during the offseason following his redshirt sophomore year, Jefferson decided to treat his misfortune as motivation and rededicated himself to improving.
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When he showed up to spring practice in 2012, Jefferson was a different player.
“I felt really good that spring of last year,” Jefferson said. “So it was just a process, man, of showing these coaches and more than that, showing my team, that they can trust me out there.”
Jefferson wasted no time in earning that trust. After winning a starting spot at safety last season, he immediately proved worthy of it, registering 89 tackles – the third most for UCLA – earning a spot on the All-Pac-12 honorable mention list and receiving the Captain Don Brown Memorial Award for Most Improved Player on defense.
It’s been much of the same this season. Jefferson ranks fourth on the team with 51 tackles and is tied for the team lead with eight pass deflections.
“He’s been very impressive and he’s done it quietly,” Mora said. “The fact of the matter is as you go through the season, there’s not gonna be a lot of people who talk about him probably. That ship’s kind of sailed, but we recognize what he is and the opponents that we play, I think they recognize what he is as well.”
Jefferson’s versatility has been his biggest asset this season.
After junior safety Randall Goforth went down with a shoulder injury early in the season, Jefferson’s role altered. No longer is he merely a safety; instead, he has been forced to become a complete defensive back, helping cover bigger receivers as a cornerback and shifting back to safety at times as well.
“He’s just developed into a jack-of-all-trades for us, really,” said defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. “He’s the true essence of a DB.”
Three years ago, Jefferson faced the possibility of becoming a forgotten piece after his first two years of college football were squandered. Now, he has become arguably the most integral piece to UCLA’s secondary, living up to his high expectations.
Two season-ending injuries were enough to shake Jefferson’s foundation and cause doubt to creep into his mind as the adversities piled up. But with what Mora called a “tremendous” attitude, Jefferson’s determination didn’t waver.
Despite the heavy footprint that injuries have placed on Jefferson’s career, he no longer finds himself concerned with them.
“I’m done with that, I have no worries in the back of my mind,” Jefferson said. “I’m good.”