Keeping up with Maake Kemoeatu

Remember him? Maake Kemoeatu, the 350-pound veteran defensive tackle and standout Carolina Panther who tore his Achilles tendon on the very first day of training camp this past August, is still a strong presence in Charlotte - just not on the football field. Kemoeatu is still recovering from his injury and hasn’t yet started the rehabilitation process, but the defensive tackle continues to stay positive in the meantime, even while still sitting the sidelines. Claiming he’s trying to shed more than 30 pounds before next season, Maake Kemoeatu has his work cut out for him - especially as his leg is still confined to movement within a boot.

Kemoeatu’s injury this season was perhaps Carolina’s biggest setback facing the regular season, but the DT is not the only significant player out with an injury. Kemoeatu’s replacement Leonard Louis also was injured during his first game with the team, leaving him out of the action while the Panthers had to dig deep to get Hollis Thomas into the position. Of Carolina’s misfortunes this year at defensive tackle, Kemoeatu recently said, “I don’t know what happened, man. I went down and the next person went down and another person went down, and before you know it, we’re three or four guys down. But hopefully Thomas gets to hold up. He’s been in the league a long time; he’s a veteran player; he knows what he’s getting himself into. Hopefully he’ll be the backbone of that defense to help (Jon) Beason and T.D. (Thomas Davis) and those guys in the back end.”

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