Dan Connor (American football)

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Dan Connor
refer to caption
Connor in 2010 with the Panthers
Penn State Nittany Lions
Position:Linebacker
Personal information
Born: (1985-11-02) November 2, 1985 (age 38)
Wallingford, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:241 lb (109 kg)
Career information
High school:Strath Haven
(Wallingford, Pennsylvania)
College:Penn State
NFL draft:2008 / Round: 3 / Pick: 74
Career history
As a player:
As a coach:
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Sacks:
1.0
Forced fumbles:1
Fumble recoveries:1
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Daniel Murphy Connor (born November 2, 1985) is an

Penn State University
, where he is currently a defensive analyst.

Early years

Connor was born in

U.S. Army All-American Bowl
.

As a junior, he rushed for over 1,500 yards and scored 29 touchdowns. On defense, he had more than 160 tackles to go along with 3 interceptions. As a senior, he rushed 231 times for 1,807 yards and 28 touchdowns, while making 141 tackles, 11 sacks and 3 interceptions.

Connor started in 59 straight games and helped the team achieve a 56–3 record. He finished his high school career with 461 tackles, 38 sacks, 19 interceptions, 591 carries for 4,556 yards and 77 rushing touchdowns. He also practiced

track
.

College career

Connor attended

Penn State[2][3] and passed Nittany Lion great Paul Posluszny
on November 3, 2007, to become first 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]

Professional career

Pre-draft

Connor's superlative college career led to his #23 ranking on

NFL Combine after getting sick.[7] 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 (first stint)

Connor was selected by the

special teams
tackles.

In

special teams
tackles (led the team), 19 defensive tackles, one quarterback pressure and one fumble recovery.

In

Connor finished with 60 tackles, one sack, 4 quarterback pressures and one pass defensed.

In

special teams
tackles.

Dallas Cowboys

On March 15,

3-4 defense and reuniting him with former Penn State teammate Sean Lee. He became a starter after Lee was lost for the year with a toe injury in the sixth game against the Carolina Panthers.[15] He missed 2 games with a neck injury and was replaced with Ernie Sims
. He appeared in 14 games (8 starts), making 58 tackles (3 for loss) and one pass defensed.

On March 11, 2013, Connor was released by the Cowboys.[16]

New York Giants

On March 16,

middle linebacker.[18]
On November 4, he was released with an injury settlement.

Carolina Panthers (second stint)

On November 13, 2013, he signed an undisclosed one-year deal to return to the Carolina Panthers.[19] He appeared in 5 games as a backup and was not re-signed after the season.

NFL career statistics

Legend
Bold Career high
Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck TFL Int Yds TD Lng PD FF FR Yds TD
2008 CAR 3 0 4 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2009 CAR 16 0 30 22 8 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
2010 CAR 8 8 47 33 14 1.0 8 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
2011 CAR 15 11 75 54 21 0.0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
2012 DAL 14 8 56 32 24 0.0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
2013 NYG 1 0 2 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
CAR 5 0 2 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
62 27 216 147 69 1.0 14 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 0

Coaching career

In September 2014, Connor was hired as linebacker coach at West Chester University under Bill Zwaan.[20] In January 2016, Connor accepted the head coaching position at Archbishop John Carroll High School in Radnor, Pennsylvania. In January 2018, Connor became the defensive coordinator at Widener University.[21]

In February 2022, Connor joined the staff at his alma mater, Penn State as a defensive analyst.[22]

References

  1. ^ "#40 Dan Connor". Penn State. Archived from the original on 2006-12-07. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
  2. ^ "Trio of Nittany Lions Earn All-America Honors From The Sporting News". Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics. 2006-12-14. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  3. ^ "Tebow, McFadden top All-America team". FoxSports.com. Archived from the original on 2007-12-13. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
  4. ^ "Penn State's Connor captures Senior Bowl Under Armour Award". The Phanatic Magazine. 2008-01-27. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  5. ^ Fernandez, Bernard (2008-04-23). "Any team will do in NFL draft for Penn State linebacker Connor". Philadelphia Daily News. Archived from the original on July 24, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
  6. ^ "Top 25 NFL Draft Candidates for 2008". SI.com. Retrieved 2007-08-14.
  7. ^ "The real top NFL draft prospects, post-combine". Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  8. ^ "2008 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-05-12.
  9. ^ Sam Ross, Jr. "PSU's Connor picked by Panthers, WVU's Slaton picked by Texans". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Archived from the original on 2008-04-30. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  10. ^ Schrager, Josh (2008-09-23). "Knee injury ends Connor's season". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on September 24, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
  11. ^ Yasinskas, Pat (March 24, 2010). "Panthers turn down Connor trade talk". ESPN. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  12. ^ "Beason could move to Davis' spot". Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  13. ^ "Jon Beason re-ups with Panthers". Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  14. ^ "Jon Beason out for rest of season". Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  15. ^ "Dan Connor's 'heart breaks' for Sean Lee". Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  16. ^ Rosenthal, Gregg (March 11, 2013). "Dan Connor released on busy day for Dallas Cowboys". NFL.com. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  17. ^ "Giants add LB Dan Connor". Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  18. ^ "Dan Connor (neck) out for season". Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  19. ^ "Dan Connor returning to Carolina". ESPN. November 13, 2013. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  20. ^ "Dan Connor: From NFL to assistant's job at West Chester". The Philadelphia Inquirer. September 12, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  21. ^ O'Brien, Rick (January 18, 2018). "Dan Connor leaves Archbishop Carroll football for Widener job". Philly.com. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  22. ^ Brennan, Mark (7 February 2022). "Penn State great Dan Connor among Franklin's three new football analysts". 247sports.com. 247Sports. Retrieved 8 February 2022.

External links