Auburn Tigers kicker Alex McPherson has one of the most inspiring stories in all of college football, returning to the field healthy this season after missing huge portions of the last two years with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

The severe issues he dealt with caused his health to deteriorate, and he even dropped to just 110 pounds not knowing whether or not he would ever be healthy again, let alone be able to play football. After making a recovery, McPherson was a rare kicker brought to SEC Media Days and got the chance to update fans and the press on his journey.

“It’s been really fun, really excited just to be back to normal from where I was,” McPherson said when asked to compare where he was at during this time last year to now. “Just to have that strength back to kind of kick how I want to and how I used to. I think I’m kicking as good as I have since before I got sick and it’s just really exciting to be able to do that and play with the guys to the full extent.”

Even more exciting to fans was McPherson’s reveal that his range is back to where it was before the illness, even able to kick up to 60 yards once again. After struggling to have a reliable long field goal kicker the last couple of years, having McPherson back on the field provides this team an absolutely massive boost in the most underrated phase of the game.

When Tigers fans see McPherson on the field this season, they will know just how much he’s been through to get back, and every kick he makes will be even more special because of that.