NEED TO KNOW
- Auburn kicker Alex McPherson said making the game-winning field goal over Georgia was a moment “you dream of since you’re a little kid”
- McPherson wasn’t sure he’d be able to play football again after being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease in 2024
- McPherson said it’s “such a great feeling” to get the win and that he’s “just proud to be a part of” the Auburn program
Two years after Auburn kicker Alex McPherson was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, the Alabama native delivered a game-winning field goal against the No. 1 team in the country.
After McPherson, 23, sealed the road 27-24 victory for the Auburn Tigers in their epic win over the Georgia Bulldogs with a 55-yard field goal on Saturday, Oct. 17, he said the moment felt surreal.
“I was like, ‘Did that just happen?’ ” McPherson told reporters after the game, including the Montgomery Advertiser. “It’s kinda of those moments you dream of since you’re a little kid. That’s my first ever game-winning field goal attempt, so it’s awesome to kinda knock it down and do that for our team.”
McPherson, who had to have his large intestine removed following his diagnosis, per ESPN, said he’s been “hearing my whole five years” that his team would “never beat Georgia at home,” and recalled not once defeating the Bulldogs in his time at Auburn. McPherson said it’s “such a great feeling” to get the win and that he’s “just proud to be a part of” the Auburn program.
Credit: Jeffrey Vest/Icon Sportswire via Getty
When asked how it feels to get the win after being unsure he’d ever even play football again, McPherson said, “It’s just hard to believe. Two years ago, I was here and I was sick and I wasn’t playing.”
The kicker said he wouldn’t have “believed” it if he was told he’d “hit the game winner” for his team two years after the diagnosis.
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McPherson continued, “Just so blessed and grateful for the amount of work that it’s taken, not just myself, so many countless staff and faculty and doctors and nurses that got me back out on the field, just so grateful for them.”
He added, “To be able to hit that, that’s for all of us, it’s not just for me. It’s for the whole team and the program, and just grateful for that.”
McPherson was named a Freshman All-American and a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award just months before his diagnosis in 2024.
He told The Athletic that he lost so much weight that he was “skin and bones, pretty much” at the time and because he is a “pretty type B person,” he hadn’t been as concerned about what could be wrong before being diagnosed. “I was, like, ‘All right, whatever, just give me some medicine and I’ll be fine.’ ”
McPherson recalled that after undergoing surgery in December 2024, his “body just couldn’t hold up,” and he was unable to join his family for meals or attend church, he told The Athletic. “I was scared to leave the facility to go home or leave home to come to the facility because I didn’t think I’d make it to a bathroom.”
He still uses a colostomy bag that requires changing every four days, per the outlet. “I love mine. I’ve got like six. It’s been a game-changer for me to have those. You don’t think about your bags flopping around everywhere. Then you put that on,” he told The Athletic, adding, “I kind of call it my bra. It holds it, and it’s just a little band around my waist, and you can’t tell I’m wearing anything.”
Reflecting on his game-winning kick while speaking with The Athletic, McPherson said, “It’s hard to put into words how much it means to me to be back and just be able to help the team out. And as a person, it puts into perspective just how fast things in your life can change. So don’t take it for granted and enjoy everything.”
He added, “No matter how big or small it is.”
Read the original article on People