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Former Minnesota OL Nick Connelly dies from cancer at age 22

Kevin Cunningham

By Kevin Cunningham

Published:

Nick Connelly was a starting right tackle at Minnesota in 2017.

He then retired late last season due to concussions and injuries involving his head. On Tuesday, Golden Gophers coach P.J. Fleck started his press conference by talking about Connelly, stating that he was battling Burkitt’s lymphoma — a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Two days later, Minnesota’s official football account on Twitter announced that the Gophers were mourning his loss:

Connelly was 22-years-old. Fleck talked about the former tackle on Tuesday:

“He’s got incredible resolve, and he’s a wonderful human being. I know he’s got a lot of teammates praying for him and that’s important.”

https://twitter.com/ConnorMayesOL/status/1042830815166648322

Fleck, on Thursday, released this statement:

Kevin Cunningham

Kevin covers Big Ten football for Saturday Tradition.