Keenan Pili sends message to Tennessee fans, teammates and coaches after suffering torn ACL
Tennessee redshirt senior Keenan Pili issued a statement on social media Wednesday thanking Tennessee fans and addressing his coaches and his teammates on social media. Pili was lost for the season to a torn ACL in the 23-17 overtime win against Florida Saturday night.
Pili captioned the post with “BEAT BAMA”:
Vol Nation —
To my brothers, coaches and staff, thank you for helping me become a better man on and off the field. Let’s go finish what we started!
To my family, wife and baby boy on the way, thank you for sacrificing for me to live my dream. I hope I made you proud.
To Tennessee, friends and fans, thank you for treating me as family and giving me a place I can always call home. Your love and support has been felt during this time.
To the game of football, I don’t know what the future holds, but thank you for a lifetime of memories I will cherish and never forget.
As hard and confusing as life may be, I thank my Father in Heaven for allowing me to play this game, and I trust in His Plan.
Same book, new chapter.
— Keenan Pili
BEAT BAMA pic.twitter.com/e3caY9Qtu6
— Keenan Pili (@KeenanPili7) October 16, 2024
Pili was on the field for just two snaps before appearing to suffer a leg injury. He walked off under his own power after being examined by Tennessee trainers, then was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game.
Pili is tied with Will Brooks as Tennessee’s leading tackler through the first six games of the season, with 29.0 total tackles (11 solo, 18 assists), including 1.5 tackles for loss. He also has two quarterback hits.
He had a season-high 10 tackleT in Tennessee’s 19-14 loss at Arkansas. Pili had five tackles at Oklahoma, three tackles against Kent State, four against North Carolina State and two in the opener against Chattanooga. He had 0.5 tackles for loss against NC State and 1.0 at Oklahoma.
Pili transferred to Tennessee from BYU before last season, but he was injured in the season-opening win over Virginia at Nissan Stadium in Nashville and was lost for the season.
“I’m not sure there’s a better representative of what a Volunteer is than Keenan Pili,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said Saturday night. “You talk about a selfless guy that cares about the people around him way more than he cares about himself.
“That’s an elite competitor, great leader, tough as nails, athletic, explosive, everything that you want. Just he’s a dude, man. Special dude.”
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