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A Year To Day After Season-Ending Surgery, St. Joseph’s Fahey Suffers Another Season-Ending Injury
Jeff Jacobs
09.07.2024
Barely a minute into the interview Wednesday, Connor Fahey’s brain spun to the calendar.
“Tomorrow,” the St. Joseph senior said, “is the first anniversary of my surgery.”
Walking into the annual Ruden Report Media Day at Sacred Heart University’s West Campus, Cadets coach Joe Della Vecchia suggested Fahey as a compelling comeback story.
And it certainly was.
In a 2023 jamboree scrimmage against Joel Barlow, Fahey, slated to be the Hogs’ starting quarterback, was rolling out to the right when he was hit from behind.
“My leg went out underneath me,” Fahey said. “It was kind of a freakish pull that ended up being a full tear.”
The pain was searing. He tried to stand up and immediately he knew it was bad. Fahey tore his right hamstring right off the bone.
“It was a tough recovery process, obviously physically but also mentally,” Fahey said. “I had worked hard to get ready for my junior year and it all got taken away from me. But I used it as motivation for this offseason. I worked harder than ever to get back where I am now. I’m so looking forward to a good year.”
Later, while I was talking to a couple other FCIAC coaches, Della Vecchio left the event. We didn’t get a chance to talk about his senior captain. A text went out Thursday asking Della Vecchia to give a call.
At 10:21 p.m., the iPhone pinged.
“We just got back from a scrimmage,” Della Vecchia messaged. “If you could believe it, I’m at the hospital with Connor. Poor kid broke his leg tonight. Exactly one year to the day when he had surgery.”
Incredible.
Incredibly heartbreaking.
And now the comeback story becomes a get-well card for Connor Fahey.
“It’s awful,” Della Vecchia said. “I feel bad for him. What he went through last year and did to get back to the point where he was faster and stronger … he was playing great.”
Fahey was primarily going to be a running back this fall along with being cycled in as a defensive back. Della Vecchia said the coaches also installed a package for him to run the ball as quarterback .
As fate would have it, Fahey was injured in the scrimmage against Notre Dame-West Haven playing quarterback. Same position. Different leg.
Fahey had participated in limited plays in the previous scrimmage, but was ready to go full tilt Thursday. In for reps at quarterback, Fahey threw a pass and, Della Vecchia said, the tackler sort of slid down his body and rolled on his leg.
X-rays at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, Della Vecchia said, showed Fahey broke both bones below his left knee. He will undergo surgery in the coming days.
“He’s such a super kid,” Della Vecchia said. “He’s our leader. He’s the guy we go to for everything. He’s the ultimate teammate. Plays any position, makes sure everything gets done on the field, where the kids are supposed to be, what they’re supposed to do. You couldn’t have a better captain, a nicer kid, a better friend. This sucks. They’re such a tight group and for him to have to go through this for a second straight year isn’t fair. That’s life. Life isn’t fair. God has a plan for him.”
Fahey didn’t get cleared until six months after surgery on Sept. 5, 2023. There would be physical therapy, lots of physical therapy.
“I wasn’t walking for the first few weeks, he said. “Then crutches and progressively being able to walk. My parents and family were there for me the entire time, everything I needed, My teammates and coaches, too.”
Sure, it was hard navigating the school hallways on crutches, but there was a shining light.
“It was still football season,” Fahey said. “I was always around my boys. I was at practice every day. They were picking me up every day to see how I was doing. Helping me. It lifted my spirits.”
First game, sure enough, there was Fahey on the sidelines in a wheelchair cheering on his guys. Through physical therapy, he was able to jog a little. He got back into the weight room.
“Eventually I was able to sprint again,” Fahey said. “I haven’t looked back since.”
He had played baseball his entire life through sophomore year, but Fahey held off last spring. He wanted no possible setbacks to get in the way of his senior football season.
He put on 10 pounds of muscle to stand 5-9, 170.
“The injury taught me never to take anything for granted,” Fahey said. “Play every down like it’s your last down, because you never know.”
At that moment, Connor Fahey didn’t realize how prophetic those words would be.
His first few years of youth football he played running back before he became a quarterback in the fourth grade. Fahey had been fired up to be the St. Joe’s starter as a junior. And why not? It is the leadership position on one of the state’s premier football programs.
When he went down, freshman H.T. Jones would develop into the starter. Jones had been playing Pop Warner a year earlier and didn’t turn 15 until midseason.
In the end, Jones helped lead St. Joseph to the Class M playoffs, where it fell to Daniel Hand. Fahey was his mentor. They watched film together. They spoke after every drive. They’d go under the tent during games to take a look at video.
“H.T. stepped up for us,” Fahey said. “I was there for him throughout the season. I watched him develop into where he is today. He’s going to have a great year for us.”
There would be no quarterback controversy. Jones was the man.
Fahey would move to running back.
“I played quarterback, but I like to call myself a football player,” Fahey said. “I’ll play wherever they need me to play. I’m still reading the defense the same way I did.”
He was prepared to block.
“Yes, sir, that too,” Fahey said. “I’m getting used to it and should be ready to go for Week 1 against North Haven.”
The plan was to run track this spring to get ready for college football. He has committed to play at Trinity. He was there for a summer camp. The coaches wanted him. He returned to Hartford with his family for a visit.
“We loved everything about it,” Fahey said. “The football, the academics, the campus, the coaches. I felt most comfortable there.”
The Trinity coaches project him as a defensive back at this point.
“We’re hoping for a big year,” Fahey said. “We have a lot of senior returners who are going to be three-year starters. We have a very skilled and deep sophomore class. I’m all good to go now.
And, suddenly, he wasn’t.
Asked how Fahey was holding up, Della Vecchia answered that for what he is going through he’s putting up a good front. He’s in decent spirits. His friends were with him all Friday.
“I know he’s dying inside,” Della Vechhia said. “As soon as he’s up and around, he’ll be around at practice I’m sure. He’ll be helping out H.T. and the running backs. I think he’s an inspiration to the kids.”
The coach talked to his players Thursday night. He had a powerful message:
“What Connor did to get back to where he was, even better, and to have it happen again, (shows) we shouldn’t take anything for granted. We can look past it and say, ‘Oh, that’s too bad.’ What we should think about is how hard he worked to get there. Every time you’re out on the field and you’re tired and something isn’t going right for you, think about how nothing went right for him for two years. Keep pushing yourself.”
That’s because Connor Fahey surely will again. And again.
He will be an inspiration.
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