Rocky Bernard Out For Season with Injury
Aug 16, 2000 | Football
August 16, 2000
Texas A&M senior defensive lineman Rocky Bernard, from Baytown Sterling High School, underwent an MRI test Wednesday morning confirming a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. The season ending injury was suffered without contact during drills on Tuesday evening.
"This is a big disappointment for us," A&M head coach R.C. Slocum said. "Rocky has been a three-year starter and is one of our better defensive players. He had worked hard this summer and we were counting on him being one of our leaders. We'll have to adjust and move forward. This really hurts our depth."
Bernard has been a starter for the past three seasons and ranks as one of the most experienced players on A&M's Wrecking Crew defense. He played 284 defensive snaps last season which was second-most among defensive linemen. Bernard is a true senior and is eligible for a redshirt season.
"I'm very disappointed," Bernard said. "I was looking forward to my senior year and I had worked very hard this summer to get ready. I will bounce back. I've learned it's not the bad things that happen to you, but how you respond."
This is the second defensive lineman lost for the season. Terry Nichols, from El Paso, was a defensive end who was killed in an automobile accident this summer near his hometown.
Lonnie Madison, a junior from The Woodlands, Texas, was moved to tight end prior to the spring drills after seeing action in all 25 games at defensive end the last two seasons.
Junior Evan Perroni, from Houston's Clear Lake High School, moved into Bernard's spot during practice Tuesday night.
The No. 24-ranked A&M football team practiced for two hours in shorts in the morning at the grass practice facility before returning for a scrimmage in full pads on Wednesday night at Kyle Field.
The Aggies will open the season on September 2 against Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., in a game that will be nationally televised by NBC Sports.
