SportsLine.com/Lindy's All-Comeback Team

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- There was a time for Florida center Zac Zedalis when there was nothing better in the world than getting stung by bees.

For a guy who missed two years of football because of chronic knee problems, it was a winged remedy. Believe it or not, the bee venom actually relieved the tendinitis in Zedalis' left knee that never seemed to get better after being injured in the 1999 season opener against Western Michigan.

Zac Zedalis has not played since the 1999 season opener. (Independent Florida Alligator)

That injury only began Zedalis' frustration. Shortly after, he sought out film of the play and spotted a Western Michigan player clipping him.

"I wrote him a letter, actually," Zedalis said. "I was angry at the time. I told him that I hoped his whole family dies. I wrote him back another letter that I apologized. I was an angry person.

"He wrote back a letter and said I was a jerk."

After two years of mind-numbing rehab, Zedalis will take the field again this fall as a sixth-year senior. Because of the knee -- and later foot -- injuries, the NCAA granted Zedalis a sixth year of eligibility shortly before Christmas. He is the first player in the Steve Spurrier era to win such a request.

Zedalis eventually patched things up with the Western Michigan player with a phone call. He still can't recall the player's name. It has, remember, been two years. In that time, Zedalis' plight was horrible. The road back was incredibly tedious. The reward is being named captain of this year's SportsLine.com all-comeback team. On a team where endless rehab has replaced end zones, Zedalis is a team leader without peer.

"It definitely has the making of a great story," Zedalis said, "if it works out in the end."

Notice the "if." In the comebackers' world nothing is for sure. It could all end tomorrow. For Zedalis, his career is continuing because he met Gainesville, Fla., physical therapist Randy Brower, a former Florida walk-on.

Brower suggested bee venom, the effects of which are similar to cortisone in an inflamed area. But, as you would expect, not exactly FDA approved.

"People think it's barbaric," Zedalis said Wednesday during the SEC football media day. "I've tried acupuncture ... a lot of stuff. It helps, more mentally than anything else. If I have any nicks or cramps, I go ahead and sting myself with bees. It sounds crazy but it works."

Pardon the graphic nature of Zedalis' treatment but here we go: Each treatment consists of Zedalis rounding up five to seven bees from Brower's hive. Zedalis, 23, then freezes them for 10 minutes, warms them up by blowing on them, grabs them by their wings, applies them to the ailing spot and flicks their heads until they sting him.

Ahh, can't you just feel the soothing relief?

"Everybody says, 'That guy, he's got problems, he's barbaric, he's got issues,'" Zedalis said. "I do have issues. I'm not stable. I don't claim to be."

Before you relegate Zedalis' story to the Masochism Channel, take a look at the other side of Zac the Barbarian. After the 1999 season he bought 50 pizzas for the homeless with money he had left over on his school dining charge card. He either had to use the money or lose it. He used it, feeding 100 homeless folks.

He will graduate in 15 days with a degree in Recreation Program Delivery. After that it's off to grad school at Florida. Someday he wants to invest the $125 it would take to buy his own hive and queen bee for something other than honey.

This fall he'll try to finish a fleeting career on a positive note. As a redshirt freshman from Alachua, Fla., in 1996, Zedalis watched his teammates win the national championship. He played most of 1997 and 1998 and worked his way into the lineup as a starter in 1999.

Then came the knee injury that remains a mystery today. At first it looked like a relatively simple tweaking of the MCL.

"The doctor said he should be back for the Tennessee game in two weeks," Florida coach Steve Spurrier said. "Zac didn't make it back for that one or the rest of the year. I don't know what happened. He never did really quite heal."

One season stretched into two as Zedalis began to feel more and more worthless. The typical day started with a depressing walk to class, followed by a 3-o'clock meeting for a game he wouldn't play in. Then came the exciting part.

"I rode the stationary bike at practice with one leg while everybody gave me dirty looks that I was a loser," Zedalis said. "I felt like a piece of trash."

No teammate ever came out and openly questioned Zedalis' desire to get better but he did feel the bad mojo. Reporters would ask and he would have no answer. "I was doing everything possible," he said sheepishly. His career began to resemble a crushed dream. Zedalis actually committed seven seasons ago in September 1995 when the Gators were on their way to a national championship date with Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl.

He came out of Alachua's Santa Fe High School as a 1995 Parade All-American. His peers on that and several other all-star national teams were Tim Couch, Andy Katzenmoyer and Ron Dayne.

"Those guys are in the NFL, retired by now," Zedalis said jokingly. "I'm trying to figure out some way to get hurt and play seven years. It's kind of cool to see those guys do very well. I'm still in college. They probably chuckle when they read my name. Hopefully, I'll see those guys again."

Finally, a break. Zedalis was preparing to continue his career as a college strength coach if the NCAA said no. He had contacted Duke coach Carl Franks about a position when the NCAA got back to him Dec. 23. They had approved his application for a sixth year due to medical reasons.

"It was a nice Christmas present," he said.

It validated in some small way that Zedalis had fought the good -- and legitimate -- fight back from what was a real injury.

Zedalis is good enough to be all-SEC or even All-American. At 6-foot-3, 280 pounds, he is a technician at what some say is the most cerebral position on the field. But it would be nice just to get through a season.

Most of all, he wants to leave Florida with positive memories. That's why he took time to speak to a couple of Gator freshmen while at teammate Eraste Autin's funeral last week. The team was devastated when Autin, a freshman, died from complications resulting from heatstroke.

"My class was so awful in '96," Zedalis said. "They were great guys but we weren't together. We didn't jell very well. We all went different ways. I told the freshmen: You guys need to bond and make great friends with each other. These are guys who are going to be friends for the rest of your life.

"What football does is provide relationships, provide friendships, you need to make the most of it and be friends with everybody in your class. Eraste, I would love to know that guy. I met him a couple of times but I didn't know him."

Hardly the words of a barbarian.