Under the white glare of the hospital lights, Mason Reiger stared at his stitched-up knee – wrapped, swollen, and motionless. A steel pole was loud beside his bed, pumping antibiotics through a line in his arm every few hours. The same leg that once drove him through tackles at Louisville now ached at the slightest movement. The infection had spread, the bone graft was gone, and another surgery loomed.
It started in early 2023 with what doctors called an osteochondral lesion – a piece of his femur dying and breaking loose, tearing through cartilage. Surgeons carved it out and replaced it with a cadaver bone, promising a several-month recovery that stretched into thirteen. The setbacks continued to pile up: a torn meniscus, weeks in the hospital, and finally a titanium rod drilled down his shin.
Two years and six surgeries later, Reiger walks into Wisconsin’s locker room – a graduate transfer who has literally rebuilt himself piece by piece. Each step proves that the pain didn’t win.
What could have ended his football career instead reshaped it. Reiger’s comeback turned into something bigger than the game of football. When most programs passed on his medicals, Wisconsin gave him a chance to rebuild.
“I knew I was meant to play football. I don’t care how many times they tell me I have to have another surgery or I should medically retire. It was just people telling me words, and at the end of the day, I knew what I needed to do to get myself back.”
Before the injury, Reiger was a fast-rising edge rusher at Louisville. Growing up in Hoffman Estates, Ill., he idolized his older brother, who also played football and later joined him at Louisville. Reiger redshirted his freshman year and then earned a key spot on Louisville’s defense his sophomore year, recording 22 tackles and five sacks in 2023–including two in a statement win over Notre Dame.
“I had a big sports background and played a bunch of different sports, but my brother turned me on to football early,” Reiger said. “We grew up playing together–high school, then college–and everything I learned about football, I learned from him. When his career ended, it just pushed me more. Somebody in the family’s got to do it, and if his career’s over now, it’s up to me.”
By the end of the 2023 season, Reiger had made his place at Louisville. He was no longer the walk-on chasing after a roster spot, but a proven edge rusher on one of the ACC’s top defenses. His future looked certain until it wasn’t. It all came crashing down before the 2024 season. What was supposed to be a routine cleanup surgery on his knee turned into a 13-month nightmare.
“It wasn’t one big hit or tackle,” Reiger said. “I’d actually been dealing with knee pain since I was about 11 or 12. They looked into it back then and saw early signs of the problem–it was just one of those ticking time things. I had a knee scope, which is just supposed to be a six-week procedure. It ended up turning into 12 months because I got a bone infection that spread.”
That infection spread quickly, forcing doctors to remove the bone graft and start over.
“I spent two weeks in the hospital while I had the infection. Then I had six weeks of antibiotics until it cleared my system. They had to keep opening my knee up and flushing it out because the infection was so bad. It killed the bone graft they put in.”
By the time he was cleared, Reiger’s rehab had become a full-time job. Every time it looked like progress, another setback followed, and eventually a titanium rod was drilled into his shin to stabilize the bone. But the hardest part wasn’t the surgeries or the pain; it was wondering if he could play football again.
“When I entered the transfer portal, I didn’t know what to expect because I was coming off a knee surgery,” Reiger said. “I honestly got recruited by almost every school in the country, but 95% of them wouldn’t pass me on the medical exam.”
Still, Reiger kept looking for a chance and a program willing to believe he could return to playing at his full potential.
“I was driving up to Madison from Chicago, and Georgia Tech’s coach called and said their head trainer reviewed my medical file and didn’t want to take the risk. I hung up the phone, looked at my mom, and said, ‘I hope I like Wisconsin.’”
Wisconsin accepted Reiger. While nearly every other school passed on his medical exams, the Badgers saw potential where others saw risk. They cleared him to play, giving Reiger the one thing he’d fought for through every setback: a second chance.
Getting cleared was just the beginning. Months of rehab rebuilt Reiger’s knee, but earning a spot in Wisconsin’s rotation required something more. Each day in winter workouts, he attacked drills like a freshman trying to prove he belonged.
Teammate Landon Gauthier, a fellow linebacker who trains alongside Reiger, said his work ethic has stood out since the day he arrived at Camp Randall. “Through everything, he shows his determination to get back,” Gauthier said. “He’s always doing the right things when it comes to getting healthy, and he shows how much football really means to him.”
For younger players like Gauthier, Reiger’s consistency has become something to look up to. Whether it’s early-morning lifts or film sessions late into the night, that same drive carries over on game days, where Gauthier said Reiger lifts the entire locker room. “He’s always bringing energy. He’s easy to talk to and always serious before games. He watches a lot of film, he’s prepared, and he’s focused on dominating another team. You just want to be around him.”
Even when lingering pain reminds him of what he’s been through, Reiger refuses to slow down. Teammates see the work that most fans don’t– the quiet hours in the training room and the extra conditioning. “Mason’s doing stuff he doesn’t have to do,” Gauthier said. “He’s putting in extra work behind the scenes, and that’s just who he is. He always wants to be the best.”
Still, Gauthier said there is more to Reiger than football. Away from the field, he’s easygoing, competitive, and always down for a challenge–even if it’s on the golf course. “He’s a pretty good golfer,” Gauthier said with a laugh. “I’ve golfed with him a couple of times, and I’m not even close.”
After everything he’s endured, Reiger is finally back to doing what he loves–making plays. Through Wisconsin’s first six games, he’s recorded 19 tackles, including three for loss and two sacks. It is not just the numbers that matter; it is what they represent, showing that every hit, every tackle, and every snap is a reminder that he made it back.
Still, the road here wasn’t without loss. Missing his entire senior season at Louisville was one of the hardest parts for him. Watching teammates play from the sidelines while rehabbing at home tested Reiger’s patience in ways he’d never experienced before. “It was tough,” he said. “You go from being part of every practice, every game, to just sitting there wondering if you’ll ever get that feeling back. But it also made me hungrier.”
That hunger shows now in Wisconsin. Reiger’s not just a contributor–he’s a tone setter. “He’s relentless,” Gauthier said. “You’ll always see him in the frame at the end of a play. He’s chasing the ball, making the tackle–he’s a dog.”
And after everything he’s fought through to get back on the field, Reiger’s sights are already set on the next challenge. He stays in touch with former teammates and friends now in the NFL, who remind him how close his own dream of playing in the big leagues might be. “I’ve got guys I played with who are in the league now. They’ll text me before games or after big plays just saying ‘Keep going,’ or ‘You’re right there.’ Hearing that from people who’ve made it keeps me locked in.”
That support, combined with his comeback story, fuels his focus on what’s next. “I’ve dreamed about the NFL since I was a kid,” he said. “When I was sitting in that hospital bed, I told myself, if I ever get healthy again, I’m going to chase that dream no matter what. That’s what keeps me going every single day.”
Gauthier doesn’t doubt him for a second. “He’s got the mentality for it,” he said. “He’s willing to do whatever it takes. He’s already proved he can come back from stuff that would’ve made a lot of people quit.”
For Reiger, the surgeries, the scars, and the setbacks aren’t what define him–the comeback does. From hospital lights to stadium lights, he’s still chasing the same dream, one step, one play at a time.
“My mindset definitely changed. There hasn’t been a day since my injuries that I’ve taken football for granted. I get the opportunity to play this game, and I’ve been on the opposite end where I didn’t. I’ll never take that for granted again.”