Neck injury, surgery end Flenorl’s season

Posted: Wednesday, October 10, 2012 12:00 pm

Fred Flenorl of Memphis, a junior defensive back on the UT Martin football team, had season-ending surgery Monday at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville to stabilize his vertebrae, assistant athletics director for athletic training Bart Belew said.
Flenorl suffered a neck injury with 5.8 seconds to play in the first half of Saturday’s homecoming game against Eastern Illinois. He was put on a back board, transported by ambulance and then air-lifted to Jackson-Madison County General Hospital. Belew said he had movement in both his arms and legs when he was air-lifted.
Belew said Flenorl does not have any spinal cord damage.
“We have two emotions,” UT Martin head football coach Jason Simpson said. “We are thankful Fred is OK and there is no permanent injury. We are sad with a hurtful heart that he will not be able to join us out on the field anymore. We will trade any win or game we could play to have Fred back.”
Before Flenorl left Saturday’s game with the neck injury, he had already recorded 10 total tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, a pass breakup and a blocked PAT.
The Skyhawks defeated Eastern Illinois 51-37 and are 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Skyhawks return to action Saturday when they play at Murray State. Kickoff is 3 p.m. Published in The WCP 10.9.12

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