Philip Nelson (American football)

Philip Nelson

East Carolina Pirates No. 9
Position	Quarterback
Class	Senior
Career history
College	Minnesota (2012–2013) Rutgers (2014) East Carolina (2015– )
Bowl games	2012 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas 2013 Texas Bowl
High school	Mankato (MN) West
Personal information
Date of birth	(1993-09-11) September 11, 1993
Place of birth	Madison, Wisconsin
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	222 lb (101 kg)
Career highlights and awards
Minnesota Mr. Football (2011)
Stats at CBSSports.com

Philip Nelson (born September 11, 1993) is an American football quarterback for the East Carolina Pirates. Following a highly successful high school career, Nelson committed to the University of Minnesota. After two seasons as a Golden Gopher, Nelson transferred to Rutgers for a more pass-heavy offensive attack. However, Nelson pleaded guilty to a fifth degree misdemeanor for his actions in a fight outside of a Mankato, Minnesota bar on Sunday, May 11, 2014, in which a man was left with permanent brain damage. He was dismissed from the Rutgers football program on the following Tuesday.^[1] Nelson was two years removed from his last football game when he enrolled at East Carolina in the hopes of a spot on the football team. After spring football training camp, Nelson received the starting quarterback position for the Pirates.^[2]

Early years

Philip attended Mankato West High School in Mankato, Minnesota. There he was a standout member of the football team, setting several state records on his way to winning the 2011 Minnesota Mr. Football Award.^[3] He is the son of Pat and Norma Nelson.

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	40‡	Commit date
Philip Nelson QB	Mankato, Minnesota	Mankato West High School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	213 lb (97 kg)	4.48	Feb 19, 2011
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 74
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 46 (QB)   Rivals: 15 (QB), 2 (MN)  ESPN: 94 (QB), 188 (Regional), 7 (MN)
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Minnesota Football Commitment List". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 11, 2012.  "Minnesota College Football Recruiting Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved December 11, 2012.  "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 11, 2012.  "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved December 11, 2012.  "2012 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 11, 2012.

Nelson began to receive attention from Football Bowl Subdivision scouts during his junior year in high school. It was originally perceived that Nelson would be a very sought after recruit during his senior year by numerous Big Ten schools and was highly regarded by recruiting expert Tom Lemming.^[4] Nelson conducted initial visits to a handful of schools to include Iowa State, Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota.^[5]

Upon visiting Minnesota in December 2010, Nelson received his first scholarship offer from Minnesota Head Coach Jerry Kill. Nelson committed to Minnesota on February 19, 2011.^[6][7]

College career

On October 20, 2012, Nelson's red shirt was pulled after struggling starter MarQuise Gray^[8] was injured the week before. Nelson's first game of his collegiate career came against the Wisconsin Badgers.^[9] The Gophers lost the game but Nelson passed for two touchdowns and was also the Gophers' leading rusher in the game. Nelson started the final seven games as a true freshman at Minnesota going 2-5 and the Gophers were invited to a bowl game for the first time since 2009. They lost in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas to Texas Tech 34-31 on December 28, 2012.^[10]

In Nelson's sophomore season, he endured peaks and valleys as the starting quarterback. He played in 12 games and led the Gophers to a 4-0 record at the beginning of the season. A hamstring injury against Iowa hampered Nelson's ability to be effective against the Hawkeyes. The Gophers lost 23-7.^[11] The next week against Michigan, back up quarterback Mitch Leidner took most of the reps but the Gophers were dismantled 42-13. Now on a losing streak and with ailing coach Jerry Kill watching from a private box, the Gophers hoped to get back on track against Northwestern. Leidner was replaced by a healthy Nelson in the first half of that game and the Gophers hung on for a 20-17 victory.^[12] Nelson would start the next four games and lead the Gophers to three signature victories over No. 24 ranked Nebraska,^[13] Indiana, and Penn State. The last two games of the season saw Nelson and Leidner split snaps as the team lost to Michigan State and then Syracuse in the Texas Bowl on December 28, 2013.^[14]

On January 16, 2014, after a trying season, uncertainty at the starting quarterback position, and with coach Kill dealing with epilepsy, Nelson announced he was transferring from Minnesota; he would still have two years to play for a new team.^[15] On January 29, 2014 Nelson transferred to Rutgers. On May 13, 2014, he was dismissed from Rutgers^[16] following assault charges leading to a guilty plea for a fifth degree misdemeanor.

In August 2015, Nelson walked on at East Carolina.^[17]

Statistics

Through the end of the 2013 season, Nelson's statistics are as follows:^[18]

Assault charges

Nelson was charged with first- and third-degree assault for allegedly kicking former Minnesota State Mankato football player Isaac Kolstad in the head during the early morning hours of May 11, 2014.^[19] The argument allegedly involved conversation surrounding a bar bouncer hitting on Nelson's girlfriend.^[20] Other people around the area reported that Nelson allegedly kicked Kolstad while he was unconscious, following being punched by a third party, Trevor Shelley. Shelley, also facing first- and third-degree assault charges, told police he did not hit Kolstad.^[20] Kolstad was left unable to breathe on his own following significant destruction of brain tissue and underwent surgeries.^[21] Surveillance video of the fight shows Kolstad throwing the first punch, knocking Nelson to the ground.^[22][23] The fight lasted eight seconds.^[24] Nelson and Kolstad were both intoxicated, according to police.^[25] Kolstad's injuries included a skull fracture, brain shifting, brain bleeding and lung deterioration due to lack of oxygen.^[20] Kolstad moved home with his wife and two daughters in November.^[24] As of December 2014, Kolstad is again able to walk and is going to speech therapy three times a week.^[26]

References

External links

• Philip Nelson on Twitter
  
• Minnesota profile