LEXINGTON, Ky. — "I can't shy away from it. That's part of my life, getting hit."
CJ Baxter walks like a running back and he talks like one, too. He describes getting hit as "amazing," and lights up while talking about finally returning to the field at 100 percent. But after earning freshman All-America status in 2023, a hit gone wrong the following August ended Baxter's sophomore campaign before it ever began. A torn LCL and PCL sidelined him for the entire season, and a hamstring injury limited him the following year, too.
This August marks two years since his extensive knee surgery.
"I'm not happy that the injury happened, but I'm happy what it did for me," Baxter says ahead of the 2026 season, his first in Lexington. "Playing this sport, we all go through adversity. I think that's that's what helps us become who we are."
Baxter has been taking hits and getting back on his feet for longer than he's been a collegiate football player. After all, responding to life's punches life isn't specific to sports; this isn't only a story on lessons in football.
It's a lesson in life.
"There are two major, close people that I've lost in life," Baxter told BBN Tonight anchor Maggie Davis, pointing and looking down at his right forearm. "I've got both of their faces tattooed on me."
Keiondre Waters was Baxter's childhood best friend and one of his first teammates.
"We played football with each other from the time we were four up until we were eight, when he passed. We were like super, super, super close," Baxter said. "His birthday actually just passed a few days ago. We were super close - did everything together."
Less than a decade later, Baxter lost another major figure in his life: his older cousin, Greg Bryant.
Bryant, also a running back, came out of Florida as a highly-touted recruit, just like Baxter. He started his career at Notre Dame, before transferring to UAB as the most-prominent player during its relaunch of the football program in 2016.
He spent the spring in Birmingham, but returned home, near Miami, for Mother's Day weekend. While there, Bryant was shot and killed. He was 21 years old.
"He was the reason, actually, why I wore number four," Baxter says of the jersey he donned throughout his life, including during his three seasons with the Texas Longhorns.
Baxter has previously described the feeling of finding out his cousin had passed as feeling like the world was ending. To this day, he refers to Bryant as his sports hero.
"Living out their dream is really the main thing. I really want to be able to do that."
But his legacy isn't only about honoring those who came before him. It's also about inspiring the next generation to take a page out of Baxter's book.
"As good as I am as a football player, I want to be known as just as good as a human. A good person, selfless person, community person, a person that's willing to put others before themselves, help others succeed as much as I want to succeed."
And most importantly: "when life knocks you down, you can always get back up."
For more on Kentucky football and all of the Wildcats, join us on BBN Tonight, airing weeknights at 7:30 p.m. on the official station for UK Athletics, LEX 18.
