Florida State quarterback McKenzie Milton capped off a stellar college career by being named one of three winners of the 2021 Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award on Tuesday.

Milton, a Mililani star quarterback, shared the honor with Michigan defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson and Kentucky linebacker J.J. Weaver. He also was named a winner of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Brian Piccolo Award, which is given to the league’s ‘most courageous’ football players.

A $5,000 donation will be made to the general scholarship funds of the three comeback winners’ schools.

Milton, who previously played at UCF, returned to action for the first time in three years after suffering a devastating knee injury in the regular-season finale against USF in 2018. The injury required emergency surgery as doctors needed to repair damaged nerves and restore blood flow to his lower right leg. The injury nearly forced doctors to amputate his leg.

After multiple surgeries and several years of rehabilitation, he received clearance from his doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to return to practice last August. Milton took over as quarterback for UCF’s scout team before announcing his transfer to Florida State.

Milton took the field against Notre Dame in the Florida State opener on Sept. 5. He would appear in six games for the Seminoles, including four starts, finishing with 775 yards passing with three touchdowns and six interceptions.

Hutchinson returned from a season-ending ankle injury in 2020 to become an All-American and Heisman Trophy runner-up for the playoff-bound, Big Ten champion Wolverines.

A torn knee ligament cut short Weaver’s 2020 season, but his physical rehabilitation was only part of the challenge he faced in returning to football in 2021. He also had to overcome the grief of losing both his father and high school coach.