Minnesota Golden Gophers: Former QB Philip Nelson Headed to East Carolina
The University of Minnesota sure knows how to pick them. Before the whole Norwood Teague thing came about on Friday morning, former Gopher quarterback Philip Nelson was brought back into our collective conciseness.
Nelson who player with the Gophers and started in 2012 will now be heading to East Carolina as a walk-on at the program according to East Carolina’s head coach, Ruffin McNeill. Side note: Ruffin McNeill is a great name for a football coach and an awesome name no matter what the occupation.
This will be the third school that Nelson has been tied to. Nelson transferred to fellow Big Ten school Rutgers to play quarterback, but never got the chance to suit up in New York. Before any playing time could be had, Nelson found himself in a bit of trouble in his hometown of Mankato.
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To recap: Nelson got in a fight outside a nightclub in Mankato with former Minnesota State Mankato football player Isaac Kolstad. The fight lead to a serious brain injury for Kolstad and put Nelson on trial. Nelson would plead guilty to fifth-degree criminal assault and was sentenced to 100 hours of community service with no jail time.
Nelson appeared for the Gophers after tearing the world up as quarterback of Mankato West. Nelson threw for 2,179 yards and 17 touchdowns as the University of Minnesota starter from 2012-13.