My mother-in-law was Carper's 4-H leader back in Clarinda, and still talks to him from time to time. He's currently kind of an assistant linebackers coach this year. I believe to this point he's had 4 surgeries on his knee. He's still hopeful that he'll be able to play next year, but it is possible that he might be done.
I remember when the injury happened, he said he did a little research on similar injuries. For the most part the recovery time was around 18 months. So far its been about 13, so in the best case he may be ready to go by spring practices.
As other people have mentioned, it certainly isn't for lack of effort that he isn't ready to go yet.
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