Tulane football player fractures spine, will need surgery

From staff and wire reports

UPDATE: The New Orleans Times-Picayune, on its website nola.com, quoted Tulane team physician Greg Stewart as saying that the long-term prognosis for Tulane safety Devon Walker won't be better known for one or two days.

"(T)he reality is you don't know for 24 to 48 hours," Stewart said. "It doesn't matter how they present. You do that 24-48 hours before you really know what is going on. … That's what I told the guys is what we know is that we don't know and anyone who comes out and tells you that they do know – they don't know. The reality of where we are right now is saying our prayers and sitting and waiting."

Stewart also said Walker did not have a collapsed long and a tracheotomy was not performed on the field, contrary to earlier reports. Stewart did say that CPR was performed "as a precaution."

"(H)e was communicating with us pretty much the whole time and it's like as I was sitting there and talking him through everything that was going on," Stewart said. "They put the collar on him so he can't look around to see what is going on. It's scary for him too so I was sitting there in his ear telling him what was happening and what was taking place."

Tulane safety Devon Walker fractured his spine in a head-to-head collision with a teammate during a game in Tulsa, the team doctor said Saturday. Buddy Savoie said during a postgame news conference that Walker is in stable condition and will need spinal surgery in the "the next day or two."

"He was stable when we transported him," Savoie said. "I do not think, based on the information we have, his life was ever in danger."

Another scary incident occurred later Saturday in Arkansas' game against Louisiana Monroe. Arkansas starting cornerback Tevin Mitchel was injured in a similar play to Walker -- a helmet-to-helmet hit with a teammate while making a tackle. Mitchel, a sophomore from Mansfield, Texas, was taken from the field on a cart. ESPN reported that he was "verbally responsive" to medical personnel but further information on his condition was not immediately available.

Tulsa was leading 35-3 and facing a fourth-and-2 with the ball at the 33-yard line when the Golden Hurricane called timeout. Tulane then called timeout.

When play resumed, Tulsa quarterback Cody Green tossed a short pass to Willie Carter, who caught it at about the 28, and turned upfield. He was tackled around the 18-yard line, with defensive tackle Julius Warmsley and Walker sandwiching him and apparently smashing the crowns of their helmets into each other.

Medical personnel from both teams came out about 12:37 p.m. Central to attend to Walker as he lay on the field.

At midfield of H.A. Chapman Stadium in Tulsa, University of Tulsa chaplain Jeff Francis took the public-address microphone and said a prayer for Walker as the crowd bowed their heads in silence.

The game resumed at 2:20 p.m.

Walker is a senior majoring in cell and molecular biology. His brother, Raynard, told the Associated Press that their mother was watching the game on television when her son was injured.

Tulane sports information director Roger Dunaway said in an email to USA TODAY Sports that NCAA rules permit schools to assist families financially so they can travel to be with their children when a serious injury such as this occurs. It was not clear late Saturday if Walker's family will request that assistance.

Tulane head coach Curtis Johnson told a FOX Sports sideline TV reporter after the 45-10 loss that at that time he hadn't received an update on Walker's condition, but said the injury had devastated his team.

"He's one of us, and he's a good kid," Johnson said.

According to John Moss of KTUL-TV in Tulsa, a Tulsa trainer told him, "Walker suffered a broken neck and collapsed lung. He had to be revived on field, and a tracheotomy was performed."

Walker was transported to St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, and his injury was classified as serious. Tulane reported through the football team's official Twitter account that Walker was in stable condition, citing an unnamed team doctor.

During the game, Fox Sports sideline reporter Desmond Purnell reported on the incident:

"A very, very tragic situation.

"I was only standing a few feet away from Devon when the medical staff was working on him, and actually at one point when they were taking off his jersey and taking off his shoulder pads, he stopped responding. He actually stopped breathing. They began to administer CPR to him. They gave him a few IVs, and he was able to start breathing again, so that was some relief.

"I got a chance to talk to (Tulane coach) Curtis Johnson coming off the field, and obviously, he was very choked up. He didn't have a lot to say, but he did tell me that Devon was breathing again and he is stable. So, some good news. We will continue to pray and keep Devon in our thoughts and prayers."

Contributing: Jeff Zillgitt, Thomas O'Toole