Prior to the 2005 season, Prothro was named second-team All-
SEC for return specialist and, despite his injury, was named to the second-team All-SEC for wide receiver at the end of the season. Prothro won an award for
Best Play at the 2006
ESPY Awards, as well as the Pontiac Game Changing Award of the Year for his outstanding catch, labeled by many as "the Catch", in which he caught the ball behind the head of
Southern Mississippi's Jasper Faulk on a long pass from quarterback
Brodie Croyle right before half-time in the game on September 10, 2005, in
Bryant–Denny Stadium. Prothro's catch helped the Tide defeat Southern Mississippi 30–21. This play also has been rated by
The Best Damn Sports Show Period as the Eighth Greatest Catch of All Time. It was the highest ranked college play on the list, and ranked even higher than such memorable plays as
"The Catch". In August 2008, Prothro received his bachelor's degree in the College of Human and Environmental Sciences.
Injury Prothro suffered a season and ultimately career-ending injury in a game against the Florida Gators on October 1, 2005. Prothro made a leaping attempt to catch a pass from Brodie Croyle. As Prothro came back down to the turf, Florida Gators cornerback Dee Webb, while attempting to break up the pass, landed on Prothro's lower left leg which snapped it completely in half. This resulted in a complete break of Prothro's
tibia and
fibula. During the game's broadcast, play-by-play announcer
Verne Lundquist compared the injury to former NFL quarterback
Joe Theismann's infamous leg break suffered during a
Monday Night Football game in 1985. After 11 extensive surgeries, doctors were not able to repair Prothro's leg to the extent of furthering his playing career. On August 3, 2007, he was placed on a medical hardship scholarship and taken off the football roster with coach
Nick Saban saying there was no way Prothro could play again. == Post-football career ==