Eric LeGrand - Rutgers Football

If you follow me on twitter you've heard me mention that I have not yet watched a game of Rutgers Football this season due to a bunch of different reasons. I've been keeping an eye out on the program as always though.

By now most sports fans have already seen the clip of it but Junior defensive tackle Eric LeGrand suffered a spinal cord injury in the game against Army this past Saturday at the New Meadowlands Stadium. The hit paralyzed him from the neck down. LeGrand, who's a local kid grew up just a short drive away in Avenel, NJ.

The video of the hit is up on YouTube. It's the risk you take in a sport like football. We've all seen hits that looked far worse but somehow not cause any injury, unfortunately this one wasn't one of those.


Head Coach Greg Schiano did speak to the media today.

"Here's the situation: This is going to be a long, long hard road back and there's going to be speculation and a lot of friends and people who care," 

"I think it's important that we stay away from those kinds of things," Schiano said. "I think there's so much out there and a lot of it is misguided. Right now, when it's appropriate, we will make an announcement if there's any kind of change in his condition. But it's not going to be a day-to-day thing."

He appeared on ESPN's College Football Live and WFAN with Mike Francesa.

Rutgers Athletics released the following Press Release earlier today:

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (October 17, 2010) - Rutgers junior defensive tackle Eric LeGrand (Avenel, N.J.) suffered a spinal cord injury in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game vs. Army. The injury was at the C3-C4 level and emergency surgery was performed by doctors throughout the night at Hackensack University Medical Center to stabilize the spine. 

“We want to say thank you to everyone for all of your prayers, kind words, and well wishes,” the LeGrand family said. “We appreciate every single thought. Eric is in good spirits and we are praying for a full recovery.”

Eric is resting in the intensive care unit at Hackensack University Medical Center and will remain there for the near future. Currently, he has no movement below the neck.

“Eric, his family and the Rutgers Football family believe he will recover,” said Rutgers head football coach Greg Schiano. “We ask our fans and the entire Rutgers community to believe and pray for Eric as he begins the recovery process.” SEND ERIC YOUR GET WELL WISHES

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