Before he arrived at USC, Micah Banuelos was already pretty accustomed to playing through pain. As a standout offensive and defensive lineman at Kennedy Catholic High in Washington, his shoulder would pop out of its socket during almost every game. So Banuelos would check out, have his shoulder popped back in and then reenter the game like nothing changed.
“Then,” his father, Roy Banuelos, says, “he never said anything about it after.”
But when that shoulder injury lingered past high school and into his freshman season, there was no ignoring it anymore. Just weeks into his first fall at USC, the staff suggested Banuelos get surgery.