There’s incredibly sad news coming out of the Minnesota football program Thursday afternoon.
In an absolutely heartbreaking missive posted to Twitter, Chuck Connelly, the father of former Minnesota offensive lineman Nick Connelly, revealed that his son lost his three-month battle with cancer Wednesday. Or, as the elder Connelly put it, “[o]n Wednesday Sept. 19, 2018 Heaven needed a right tackle and Nick Connelly got the call.”
Connelly was just 22 years old.
The younger Connelly was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma in June of this year. A very rare form of cancer — WebMD states just that just 1,200 cases are diagnosed annually in the United States, with nearly 60 percent of those coming in patients over the age of 40 — and is recognized as the fastest growing human tumor.
In late October of last year, Connelly, who had started the first five games of the 2017 season at right tackle for the Gophers, announced that he was retiring from football because of the effects of multiple concussions.
Our thoughts, prayers and condolences go out to Connelly’s family, friends and former teammates for their loss.