University of Louisville cornerback Anthony Conner said an unexpected phone call helped lift his spirits while he was hospitalized with a broken neck suffered against Rutgers on Oct. 21.
Former Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LeGrand called Conner the day after his surgery to stabilize a cervical fracture. Last year LeGrand was paralyzed after making a tackle on a kickoff.
Conner also was hurt making a tackle, but he did not suffer paralysis. U of L coach Charlie Strong brought him into the media room during his postgame interview. Conner wore a neck brace and spoke softly, at one point pausing when he appeared to think about how fortunate he was to be walking.
“He helped me, like he eased my mind because he was so positive,” Conner said of LeGrand. “… I’m like this one man that’s facing this every day and I was lucky enough to walk away from it, so I’m happy just to be here today with my team.”
Strong brought Conner into the locker room at the end of his pregame speech for his teammates to see. Conner also rode a golf cart onto the field before the second quarter and received a standing ovation from the crowd of 44,817 at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.
“I enjoyed it, I loved it, it’s the support that Coach preaches about every day,” Conner said. “I enjoyed every second, every minute, everything about it.”
He also received the game ball from Strong after the 27-10 victory over Syracuse.
“It’s going to be a long recovery,” Strong said, “but what’s going to be great is just getting him around the team. The impact and the influence of our team will be good, because there’s going to be days where he’s going to be down.”
Strong emphasized to the players to not take tomorrow for granted. While addressing them at breakfast, he pointed to the vacant seat where Conner normally sat.
“Appreciate today,” Strong told his player, “because you never know what can be taken away from you.”
No comments:
Post a Comment