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Drake Johnson's Michigan football career might not be over just yet.

(Melanie Maxwell | MLive)

ANN ARBOR -- Running back Drake Johnson may still have a chance to play one more season of football after all. Though, at this time, nothing is certain.

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters Monday that he believed Johnson's football career was likely over due to medical reasons.

That may have been a bit premature, though.

A source with direct knowledge of the situation told MLive on Tuesday that Johnson is still in the process of awaiting clearance from the NCAA for a sixth-year medical hardship waiver. And, if that waiver goes through -- and Johnson is physically able to compete -- he does have an open invitation from Harbaugh to be a part of the 2017 team.

The decision, ultimately, will be up to Johnson -- who has suffered ACL injuries in 2013 and 2014 and was involved in a track and field training accident last year.

At this time, Johnson is in the process of petitioning to the NCAA for hardship waivers in football, indoor track and outdoor track. If the petition is granted, Johnson would be eligible to participate in all three sports for Michigan in 2017-18.

But, again, that decision will be up to Johnson and where his health is at that time.

Johnson -- an Ann Arbor native -- suffered his first serious injury as a redshirt freshman in 2013, tearing an ACL in the season-opener against Central Michigan. After sitting out the entire year, Johnson emerged as Michigan's featured running back late in 2014 rushing for 361 yards and 4 touchdowns down the stretch.

He was bitten by the injury bug again, though, when he suffered another ACL tear in the season-finale at Ohio State.

Johnson was able to come back and appear in 12 of the team's 13 games for the Wolverines during Harbaugh's first year in 2015. That season, he rushed 54 times for 271 yards and 4 touchdowns while also making 6 catches for 96 yards and a pair of scores.

A third major injury took place in April of 2016 as Johnson, who also ran track at Michigan, was accidentally run over by a forklift while warming up inside the school's indoor track building. Johnson was able to walk away from the incident without any drastic injury at the time and was taken to the hospital for further evaluation.

Johnson did not appear in a game -- though he did warmup, at times -- for the Wolverines as a fifth-year senior in 2015. Johnson also dealt with hamstring issues last season.

A positive and well-respected member of the football team, Michigan's coaches -- and Johnson's teammates -- have consistently raved about the positive influence he brings to the locker room throughout the year. And, when healthy, Michigan's staff has always held Johnson's ability as a running back in high regard.

"You can always turn something into a positive and I think that people who can't do that, it's unfortunate," Johnson said prior to the 2016 season. "If you can learn to do that, you can go far in life.

"You can always build upon something."

Presently, Michigan expects to have plenty of experienced talent in its offensive backfield in 2017 -- as Chris Evans, Karan Higdon and Ty Isaac combined to rush for 15 touchdowns and 1,456 yards a year ago. Michigan is also getting a look at redshirt freshman running back Kareem Walker this spring.