Colorado State tight end Pearce Spurlin III has been named to the 2026 Comeback Player of the Year watch list, a national honor recognizing his return to football after doctors medically retired him in February 2024 due to a congenital heart condition. Spurlin underwent open-heart surgery to repair his aortic valve and did not play in a single game during the 2024 or 2025 seasons before landing at Colorado State as a transfer from Georgia.
Spurlin's recognition was first detailed by the Denver Gazette, whose Colorado Sunshine column from writer Paul Klee spotlights good news in sports. On August 20, College Sports Communicators, working with the Associated Press and the Fiesta Sports Foundation, placed Spurlin among 94 players from 59 schools on the national watch list, according to Virginia Sports. Three eventual winners will be honored at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, per that same report, which also notes the award was established in 2018 to recognize student-athletes who overcome major injury, illness, or medical hardship.
A Heart Condition Ended His Career Once Already
Spurlin's medical journey began after a congenital heart defect was discovered during annual monitoring, forcing his retirement from football in March 2024 while he was still at Georgia. As reported by 247Sports, his heart safety margins had moved into a high-risk range for contact sports. In August 2025, surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic repaired his aortic valve, a procedure that ultimately restored his medical clearance to play.
Georgia kept Spurlin on athletic scholarship as an inactive squad member throughout his 2024 and 2025 medical retirement, even as he remained sidelined. But NCAA regulations governing medical disqualifications barred him from ever suiting up for the Bulldogs again once he was cleared, meaning a transfer was his only path back onto the field. He announced on social media on December 9, 2025, that specialists at the Cleveland Clinic and Athens Piedmont Hospital had granted him full medical clearance, allowing him to enter the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining.
From Recruiting Portal to Fort Collins
Spurlin evaluated multiple programs and took official visits before committing to Colorado State on January 15, joining the Rams in time for spring practices. The move capped a recruiting arc that began years earlier, when the South Walton High School standout was rated as high as the No. 2 tight end nationally by both Rivals and 247Sports as a four-star prospect in the 2023 class.
His only season of active college football came in 2023 at Georgia, where he caught three passes for 60 yards across six games, including a career-long 31-yard reception in the Capital One Orange Bowl win over Florida State, according to statistics compiled by Sports Reference. Spurlin had enrolled early at Georgia in January 2023 but missed part of spring practice that year with a collarbone injury, well before the heart diagnosis ever entered the picture.
Colorado's Long Wait for a National Winner
Spurlin's watch-list nod arrives with some regional history attached. The last college football player from a Colorado institution to win the national Comeback Player of the Year Award was University of Colorado running back Jarek Broussard in 2020, according to the Colorado Collegiate Chronicle. Spurlin isn't the only in-state name on this year's list either — University of Colorado running back DeKalon Taylor was also named to the 2026 watch list, the outlet reports.
Spurlin is one of just three players from the Pac-12 region included among the 94 honorees, joining Boise State wide receiver Ben Ford and Oregon State defensive back Noble Thomas Jr., per Boise State Athletics. The full watch list spans 59 schools across all major FBS and FCS conferences nationwide.
Back on the Field — and in the Video Game
Spurlin's return to active status has extended beyond the field. EA Sports listed him as an active redshirt sophomore tight end for Colorado State with a 75 overall rating in College Football 27, the 2026 edition of the revived franchise that uses real-player NIL agreements, according to Launch Ratings. It's a small but tangible marker of how far he's come from the medical retirement that once ended his playing days entirely.
Colorado State opens its 2026 season against Wyoming on September 5 at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins, giving Spurlin his first chance to take the field for the Rams in a game that counts. Whether he factors into the Comeback Player of the Year race beyond the watch list won't be known until the three eventual honorees are named ahead of the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.
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