One former Michigan defensive back took to social media this week to air his grievances about his departure from the program and how his injury was treated. Claiming he was 'finessed' into medically retiring from the program.
Benjamin St. Juste was forced to medically retire from the program in 2019 due to the hamstring issues he was consistently having.
He claims in a TikTok video that the rehab process he was undergoing with the training staff at U-M did not help and he was not seeing progress.
He claims that he signed a document from the U-M training staff that allowed him to go to a nearby facility to get further rehab and treatment, which he claimed he saw immediate improvement in his injuries.
"In 2018 I had a grade-two hamstring pull and I'm going through a whole bunch of rehab, it's not working with the trainers," St. Juste said. "I'm not seeing any progress. I have no explosiveness, I have no strength throughout the whole year and now we're in 2018 training camp. Throughout that year, I ended up pulling my hamstring six times. Three on the right, three on the left because my left hamstring was overcompensating from the lack of progress that I was doing there."
"I'm desperate for a chance to get better. The trainers at Michigan at the time, they came up with these papers, these documents. Hey, if you sign this, this will give you way more options and time to heal and rehab at any other facility that you want. I'm like, yo, that's a sweet deal because I'm not ready for the season so let me do this. Obviously, my parents are there, they're back home in Canada. I don't have any mentors or friends who know what this paper is. I'm like, cool. Sign it. They set me up with this facility that's 15-20 minutes away from campus. Mind you, I've been doing all the rehab with them the whole year and I didn't see any progress. I go to this facility, I do strengthening, mobility, massage and all that staff. I'm back on my feet ready to go, 100%. In two months, I'm back. Hamstring felt better than ever, I'm clearing all the tests and everything."
St. Juste claims that he spoke with Jim Harbaugh and was told that upon him being cleared to play, he could return to play in 2019 but he needed to have a meeting before that could happen.
He went on to explain that, after a meeting with the training staff and head coach Jim Harbaugh, the program claimed that they didn't know if he could play for the program again.
"2019 rolls around and I do all the testing, assessments and all that stuff to make sure that I am ready for spring ball with the trainers and I'm passing everything," St. Juste said. "I'm all good. I'm like, hey, when can I participate in spring ball? They were like we have to have a meeting with your parents first. My parents drive down from Canada all the way down to Michigan. Sit down with the trainers, two team doctors and Jim Harbaugh. Basically, they look at my dad and say, hey, we really don't know what happened with St. Juste. We don't know what's the situation. Basically, my dad snapped, he snapped like crazy on him but that's a different story. We're not going to go into that.
"The doctors were basically saying, hey, we don't feel comfortable with you playing here with your hamstring. They're basically trying to say—they're acting like I've got cancer or some shit or like I tore my ACL five times. Bro, it's a hamstring pull. You just didn't do the proper rehab or treatment process for me because it's a grade two. It takes a little bit more time than a grade one. They're saying, yeah, you can't play here with that."
Even after the meeting, St. Juste said he flew to Indiana to see one of the top soft tissue specialists in the country that works with the Indianapolis Colts and was cleared immediately.
Even with that, St. Juste was not allowed to return to the program and claims that the document he signed allowed the U-M program to take away his scholarship and give it to another player.
"Now that I am older, when I signed that paper, there was never a plan on getting me back on the team," St. Juste said. "They were saying oh we're going to reverse the whole process. Basically, when I signed that paper, they took my scholarship and gave it to somebody else and they made me think, hey, go through the process and pass the tests and we'll get you back on the team.
"They already moved on. My locker was already clean. I couldn't even access the facility. Had to sit in the stands to watch my teammates, my friends, play."
St. Juste would later transfer to Minnesota and play two seasons with the Golden Gophers and was drafted by the Washington Commanders where he is still currently playing for the franchise.
In the caption of his TikTok, he says there is no bad blood to U-M but claimed to be finessed' by the program.
"This is where I kind of got finessed, forced to retire at Michigan," St. Juste said. "I never took that decision, I kind of got finessed."
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