Anthony Connor Diagnosed With Broken Neck

Our thoughts and prayers go out Anthony Conner and the rest of the Louisville football family. Charlie Strong told the media that Connor suffered a broken neck in the Cards 16-14 win over Rutgers.

Connor was taken off the field in a stretcher at the beginning of the second quarter, following an awkward tackle on Rutgers receiver Mohamad Sanu. Conner came in low to tackle Sanu, and  flipped the Rutgers receiver. But Conner’s helmet banged off Sanu’s right knee, and he went down on the field. Trainers worked on him for several minutes. He did move his feet and a hand as he was carted off to an ambulance where he was taken to Jewish Hospital.

Charlie Strong told his team about the seriousness of Connor’s injuries following the game. He said many of them took the news very hard.

Strong’s comments to ESPN:

“It’s just so tough anytime you lose a player,” said Strong, who kept tapping the side of the podium as he spoke. “It’s what happens in this game, but you just never think it’ll happen to one of your own. For that to happen, it is, it’s sad. I think our players, I told them right after the game. I ended up telling them about it, and some of them didn’t take it very well. The whole team didn’t take it very well.”

Connor is a red-shirt senior who transferred to Louisville in 2008 from Butte Junior College. He missed the entire 2010 season, due to a torn ACL. Once again, my thoughts and prayers go out to Connor and his family.