THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Cam Akers sat at a table, talking to reporters in town for Super Bowl LVI, mostly unaware of the history that said he had no business being there.

When Akers went down with an Achilles injury in July, returning this season wasn’t the question. The bigger concern was if he’d ever be the same. The history of running backs who tore an Achilles tendon was awful. There were practically no successful comeback stories. No backs who tore their Achilles regained their old form, unless you count D’Onta Foreman of the Tennessee Titans this season.

A torn Achilles was practically a death sentence for running backs’ careers.

“I heard of it,” Akers about the history of running backs with Achilles tears. “I didn’t really want to research it. People telling me was enough. I knew it wasn’t good. I wanted to do my thing, change it if I could.”

Akers returned in a little less than six months. He has been the Rams’ featured back in all three playoff games. It’s an unbelievable comeback story.

Akers could have shut it down, giving himself about eight more months of recovery time before the 2022 regular season, and nobody would have blamed him. Nobody would have even noticed since he was never supposed to return.

Why rush back from an injury that had ruined so many backs’ careers, and could cut into his own career longevity?

“Because, look at where we are now,” Akers said. “I knew the chance was real of going to the Super Bowl. I knew we had a good chance of going. I knew we had a good chance of making that run, and I wanted to be a part of it. I’m blessed to be able to.”

Everyone in the Super Bowl has a tale of resiliency and perseverance. Not many of those stories are as impressive as the one Akers is writing.

“He would have told you four months ago he’d be sitting in this spot,” Rams offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth said. “That’s what he dreamed, that’s what he imagined, that’s what he believed was going to happen. He wouldn’t accept anything other than that.”

Cam Akers wanted to play in a Super Bowl

From a business aspect, Akers’ best move would have been to sit. We all know how hard it is for running backs to get paid what they’re worth, due to the short career span and the poor hit rate on second contracts at the position. Coming back and getting 59 carries about a half-year after a ruptured Achilles, with more punishment to come Sunday, is risky.

But he had a goal that had nothing to do with a salary down the road.

“Being here,” Akers said. “Being able to compete for a Super Bowl championship. Years ago as a kid I said I wanted it. Putting in the work to be here, and now I’m here.”

Hearing Akers discuss his focus on rehab is impressive. He is at the end of his second NFL season, is just 22 years old, but had a mature approach to his recovery.

“I cried for probably the first day,” Akers said. “After that I had to pick it back up. Nobody feeling sorry for the situation at hand, nobody feeling sorry for me, understanding I have to get back better gave me motivation.”

Akers isn’t unaware of what he was up against. But he trusted the Rams training staff, and said he wouldn’t have come back if he weren’t 100 percent. But, shockingly, he was.

Akers says he has no issues after injury

It’s not the easiest thing physically to be a featured NFL running back, but Akers said he has had no issues since returning.

“I’m back, better than I was,” Akers said. “100 percent. I don’t have any problems with my Achilles.

“Any problems. No exaggeration. No soreness. I feel like new.”

Maybe it’s the ignorance of being 22 years old, but Akers never seemed to understand the odds he was battling.

“Every single day I saw him in the training room doing his rehab, he’s looked at me and says, ‘Big Whit, I’m going to be back. If you all get to the playoffs I’m going to be there,’” Whitworth said. “He believed it in his mind that was going to happen since the moment he got injured.

“He made it tough on everybody involved in the process because it hasn’t been done, but there was nothing that he was not checking off and even exceeding. They were going, ‘I don’t know how we’re going to tell him he can’t.’”

We’ll see if there are long-term effects to his career. He is averaging 2.6 yards per carry in his four games back, which is concerning.

But this week is what Akers came back for. He sat in the sun on Cal Lutheran University’s field, talking to Super Bowl media, pleased that he never gave up on coming back this season.

“Going through that allowed me to grow as a player, as a young man, and I’m thankful for the lesson,” Akers said. “It wasn’t a loss. It was just a lesson, and I learned from it.”