What was once looking like a feel-good college football story has instead taken a turn in the other direction.
In mid-October of last year, UConn redshirt junior linebacker Eli Thomas was hospitalized for an unspecified medical issue. It was subsequently confirmed by the football program that Thomas had suffered a stroke during a team weightlifting session.
Thomas eventually re-enrolled in classes for the spring semester at the university and rejoined his teammates, even as he had not yet been cleared by the program’s medical staff to resume football activities.
Tuesday, Randy Edsall confirmed that clearance will never happen, at least at this university, as Thomas has been medically disqualified from ever playing the sport again. The development comes a couple of months after the linebacker was named by his teammates as a team captain during the Huskies’ spring practice.
Thomas played in the first four games of the 2018 season before suffering a neck injury in a Week 4 loss to Syracuse. The injury sidelined the player for the next two games before suffering the stroke.
Thomas came to the Huskies after two seasons at the junior college level and took a redshirt his first season with the program as he rehabbed a torn ACL, the third of the three major knee injuries he suffered during his football career. Prior to the neck injury, the Elmira, NY, native had been credited with 11 tackles, one sack and one forced fumble.