UNC’s Walker out of hospital after blindside hit
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Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior Writer
North Carolina wide receiver Tez Walker has been released from an Atlanta-area hospital, where he was evaluated after taking a blindside hit late in the fourth quarter of a 46-42 loss at Georgia Tech on Saturday night.
The Tar Heels released a statement Sunday morning saying Walker would travel home with the team.
“Tez is doing better, has been released from the hospital, and is flying back to Chapel Hill this morning,” the school said.
Walker made a first-down reception as the Tar Heels were attempting a comeback but was hit without seeing the defender coming and fumbled. He was on the ground for several minutes before eventually walking off with the help of trainers. But as he made his way to the sideline, he appeared unsteady on his feet.
North Carolina coach Mack Brown said during his postgame news conference that Walker was “aware and talking,” and North Carolina later said Walker had been taken to the hospital.
The loss was the second in a row for North Carolina, which opened the season 6-0 with hopes to make it back to the ACC championship game. But the Tar Heels have now blown double-digit leads in both defeats to teams that came into their matchup with losing records.
Against Georgia Tech, the Tar Heels’ defense appeared to revert to the lacking form from last season, particularly early on. Georgia Tech had 635 yards of total offense. In the fourth quarter alone, the Yellow Jackets scored 22 points and had 246 rushing yards. Brown called the defense “awful” in the fourth.
“I’ve never seen anybody just take it and run for 10 yards a crack,” Brown said. “I told the guys I can’t answer what happened right now. I’ll watch it on the plane going home; we’ll adjust. We’ve got to grow up, man up and get ready to play next week.”
What made that fourth-quarter performance even more problematic was the fact that North Carolina had held Georgia Tech scoreless in the first and third quarters.
“I’ve been doing this 35 years,” Brown said. “I’ve never seen two quarters that bad and two quarters that good. I thought we were beyond that on defense.”
Getting off to hot starts then losing has been a knock against North Carolina. Last season, the Tar Heels started out 9-1 before losing four straight to end the season.
“They’re crushed, and I’ve got to pick them up,” Brown said. “Everybody will be down on them. I thought they tried tonight. Started the game 21-7; they checked all the boxes until we didn’t. We’ve got to go back, don’t start pointing fingers, don’t start second-guessing, stay off the Internet, don’t be watching the news and go back to work and get better next week.”
WASHINGTON — Brayden Schenn played his 1,000th regular-season NHL game when he and the St. Louis Blues beat the Washington Capitals 5-2 on Thursday night.
Older brother Luke played his 1,000th game Oct. 17 with the Nashville Predators. The Schenns are the eighth set of brothers to each reach that milestone and the first to do so in the same season.
“I’ve always said you don’t get there without the help of tons of people,” Brayden said after his team’s morning skate. “Family being one and coaches and players and teammates and people in the organization. Obviously, you have to embrace the day-to-day grind of the ups and downs and just how hard this league is, but, yeah, pretty special that we have best buddies that push each other every day and get to do it in the same year.”
Blues players celebrated the occasion with Schenn shirts and hats with the captain’s No. 10 on them. Father Jeff gave a pregame speech in the locker room after coach Jim Montgomery said, “Schenner and his bro both getting 1,000 games in the same season is a tribute to the great family raised by Jeff and his wife.”
Jeff Schenn said Brayden was his favorite player on the Blues and tied for his favorite overall, of course, with Luke.
“Honored and privileged and very proud to be part of the big day and the big journey that goes along with it,” their dad said. “You see the hard work and the dedication and the bumps and the bruises and everything you guys put into it. … Just so excited and happy to be here and awful proud of him.”
Montgomery said after the win that Jeff Schenn looked very comfortable speaking in front of the group.
“Jeff and his wife, Brayden’s parents, they raised four great kids and two have played 1,000 games in the NHL,” Montgomery said. “His message was well-received, and you could tell by our start that we wanted to play for our captain.”
Dylan Holloway, who scored twice, said because it was Schenn’s 1,000th game, the Blues “wanted this one bad.”
The Capitals acknowledged the milestone with a message on arena videoboards and an announcement during the first period.
Brayden getting to 1,000 comes amid talk ahead of the March 7 trade deadline that teams are interested in acquiring both of them in separate moves. The Blues are on the fringe of the playoff race in the Western Conference, while the Predators are far out of contention.
“The times I’ve gotten traded, I didn’t expect to get traded, so you really never know,” Brayden said, adding he has loved his time with St. Louis. “It’s a business and that just comes with the flows of kind of where we’re positioned, five points out of the playoffs. But it’s the trade deadline, so some people make rumors. … You just take it a day at a time and just focus on your game and play.”
Brayden, 33, has three years left on his contract at an annual salary cap hit of $6.5 million. Luke, 35, has one more season left after this one at $2.75 million.
The Schenn brothers have played together in the NHL before, spending 3½ seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers from 2013 to 2015. Brayden won the Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019, then Luke back to back with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021.
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