Dan Connor (American football)
| Carolina Panthers | |
|---|---|
| Career information | |
| College: | Penn State |
| NFL draft: | 2008 / Round: 3 / Pick: 74 |
| Career history | |
| |
| Roster status: | Injured Reserve |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Daniel Murphy Connor (born November 2 1985 in Template:City-state) is an American football linebacker for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Panthers in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Penn State.
Connor was a two-time All-American and the 2007 Chuck Bednarik Award winner at Penn State. His 419 career tackles is a school record.
Early years
Connor played football at Strath Haven High School in suburban Philadelphia and was rated the number 1 linebacker in the country. He was also named to the USA Today Top 25 Supreme Team.[1] He played in the 2004 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
College career
Connor earned All America honors his junior and senior seasons at Penn State[2][3] and passed Nittany Lion great Paul Posluszny on November 3, 2007 to become #1 on Penn State's career tackles list.
Connor's game-high nine tackles along with an interception of a Colt Brennan pass in the 2008 Senior Bowl earned him the game's Under Armour Award—essentially the North team's MVP.[4][5]
He majored in crime, law and justice.
Professional career
Pre-draft
Connor's superlative college career led to his #23 ranking on Sports Illustrated‘s list of the top 25 2008 NFL Draft candidates.[6]
He ran a 4.63 40 yard dash at his Pro Day. He also bench pressed 225 lbs 22 times and jumped 35" vertically.
Carolina Panthers
Connor was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the third round (74th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft.[7] Due the Panthers' wealth of talent at linebacker, Connor played sparingly—mostly on special teams—in the first 3 weeks of the 2008 season before a torn ACL suffered during a loss to the Minnesota Vikings ended his season.[8]
References
- ^ "#40 Dan Connor". Penn State. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
- ^ "Trio of Nittany Lions Earn All-America Honors From The Sporting News". Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics. 2006-12-14. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
- ^ "Tebow, McFadden top All-America team". FoxSports.com. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
- ^ "Penn State's Connor captures Senior Bowl Under Armour Award". The Phanatic Magazine. 2008-01-27. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- ^ Fernandez, Bernard (2008-04-23). "Any team will do in NFL draft for Penn State linebacker Connor". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
- ^ "Top 25 NFL Draft Candidates for 2008". SI.com. Retrieved 2007-08-14.
- ^ Sam Ross, Jr. "PSU's Connor picked by Panthers, WVU's Slaton picked by Texans". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Schrager, Josh (2008-09-23). "Knee injury ends Connor's season". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
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