By TOM ZEBOLD

USF Senior Writer

TAMPA - One of the toughest moments for a football player is when the game is unexpectedly taken away because the body breaks down.

Jeff Hawkins and Andreas Shields have had that happen for reasons that would scare even the toughest of players, but the good news is USF's senior tight ends are healthy and back to business as usual this fall.

"To see their perseverance and coming out with the attitude that they have day in and day out, it's awesome for the older and the younger guys to see," senior tight end Evan Landi said.

Hawkins has had to use the positive mindset for most of his career at USF.

The former Vanguard High School standout from Ocala missed all of last season after tearing the ACL in his left knee during the Bulls' practices for the International Bowl in 2010. Hawkins was six months through rehab and about a month away from being a full go when he ran a route, twisted wrong and tore the ACL in his other knee.

"It's been a heck of an experience," he said.

Hawkins was about 80 to 85 percent healthy and back practicing with the team in the spring when Shields started to battle something far different than blown out knees.  The former Wharton High School star has dealt with stomach issues since his prep days and wound up missing most of the spring while going in and out of doctors' offices.

Shields initially was treated for a stomach virus and started to feel better for a short period of time when things started to act up again.

"I just thought it was like heart burn or something," he said. "One day I couldn't move and I got rushed to the ER. They did blood work and I had to stay in the hospital for seven days."

That's when doctors gave Shields his true diagnosis - chronic pancreatitis - which meant the tubes that take bile in and out of his pancreas were much smaller than the average person and blocked. Shields did not eat or drink during his hospital stay while an IV kept him going.

"It sucks. You watch TV with commercials of the food and stuff, and you just think, 'What am I going to eat when I get out?' Then when you get out, you have to go on a strict diet," Shields said.

Shields' diagnosis was only a small portion of his battle and the other part of his road back to the field resembles something you might see in a TV drama. Doctors have had to expand his tubes numerous times by going in through his throat and cutting into his stomach to complete the procedures. What now looks like a 248-pound Hulk running on the turf once was reduced to a 215-pound player that questioned it all when he was still getting procedures done in the summer.

"I'd be in the hospital thinking, 'Man, I don't think I'm going to make it back.' I had some setbacks trying to gain weight," Shields admitted.

Things are now much better for both of USF's former banged-up pass catchers. Like all of the team's tight ends, Hawkins wears braces on his knees as a precaution this fall, but he's moving around quite well.

"He's probably stronger lower body-wise than he was before, definitely before the surgeries," said Steve Walz, USF's assistant AD/director of sports medicine. "He took advantage of his time off, which some players don't do, and built his body up to better withstand the rigors of football."

Tight ends coach Peter Vaas can definitely second Walz's statement and has no worries about Hawkins being able to get the job done this fall.

"I think he's come a million miles," Vaas said. "In the spring time there was still some questions in his head, not necessarily in ours, but his head and so far in training camp it seems there are no questions. He's full speed like nothing has ever happened."

Watch Shields motor around on the turf now and you wouldn't think anything had ever happened to him either. He was fully cleared to play in July and said he feels "amazing" running routes. Like Hawkins, Shields' body also is able to withstand the punishment once the regular season begins.

"The doctor said there is no greater issue than anybody else out there. A direct hit really isn't going to affect him," Walz said.

These days, Hawkins and Shields, close friends since they came to USF in 2008, have been giving each other pats on the helmet and sharing laughs like they did at the beginning of it all. No true roles for any of USF's tight ends have been determined at this point, but the Bulls' healthy duo has been making plays on a regular basis with less than two weeks to go before the team's season opener.

"The best part about it is they make one another better," Vaas said. "Any time you have competition it breeds improvement, and that's what you have right now."