Torii Hunter Jr. Incurs Devastating Injury at All-American Bowl Practice

Notre Dame wide receiver commit Torii Hunter Jr. sustained a broken left femur while running a passing route during practice at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Tuesday, according to reports from ESPN and Yahoo! Sports.

Hunter Jr. was running a routine route during 1-on-1 drills, when he fell to the ground in extreme pain. There was no contact involved.

The devastating injury happend to be caught by television cameras who were filming practice.

Rivals.com national analyst Mike Farrell watched the drama unfold (via Yahoo! Sports): 

"

“I’ve never been around something like that," said Rivals.com national analyst Mike Farrell. "I’ve been around injuries. I saw LeSean McCoy break his ankle, and that was pretty horrible, and I’ve seen kids get injured pretty badly, but this was something different. You could tell by the way he went down in so much pain. Everything went silent, and everybody was like, ‘What happened?’ because it wasn’t a contact injury." 

It didn’t look like there was something where he planted and just blew out his ACL. I’ve seen kids blow out their ligaments, I’ve seen kids with dislocated knees, and there’s always a level of pain, but not like this. This was a very sobering, horrible moment, because this is a good kid. ... I’m not talking about him like his career is over, but I’m just talking about [Tuesday] that whole practice changed for everybody who saw that.”

"

Hunter Jr. was carted of the field and taken to a local hospital.

The young wideout is the son of Detroit Tigers outfielder Torii Hunter, who when asked about the state of his son, had this to say (via ESPN):

"

"It's a fracture, and it will require surgery," Hunter said of his son. "He's a tough boy. He's distraught right now, he's never had an injury before. I told him he'll bounce back. I know he will.

"He's seen me fight through injuries, so he knows it can happen. You just have to work hard."

"

Reconstructive surgery was performed on Wednesday and his recovery time is expected to take 6-8 weeks; however, it can take upwards of a year to fully heal.

The 6'1" 175-pound wide receiver committed to the Fighting Irish in September after also being sought out by Nebraska and Arizona State.

Hunter caught 71 receptions for 1,235 yards and 14 touchdowns this season on his way to helping Prosper High (10-3) to the third round of the Texas Class 4A Division II state playoffs.

Like his father, Hunter Jr. is a standout center fielder and a potential MLB draft pick, but the injury he sustained may wipe out his final prep baseball season.

While talking to ESPN, Hunter stressed:

"

"All of the doctors are saying he should be fine," Hunter said. "They're saying it's 99 percent [full recovery probability], but it'll take some time."

"

He's currently ranked the No. 21 wideout and No. 181 senior recruit nationally by Rivals.com and the No. 5 receiver and No. 47 prospect according to ESPN 150.