From 'impossible' to the 'process,' understanding Isaiah Oliver's ACL recovery

ATLANTA -- Isaiah Oliver stood beyond the end zone inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in June, the place where eight months earlier so much of his career and future appeared altered. Where the Atlanta Falcons' cornerback went from having a breakout 2021 season in a contract year to having everything become an unknown.

It was there, not far from where he was talking, that he was carted off the field after a season-ending, surgery-requiring torn right ACL against the Washington Commanders.

The path from Oct. 3, 2021, to June 3, 2022, when Oliver was in the stadium participating in an organized team activity, was long and arduous. For a while, Oliver wasn’t sure what to believe in terms of his own…