John Edward Conner (born June 8, 1987) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

fullback. Conner earned a

2009 College Football All-America Team An All-American team is an honorary sports team for a specific season composed of the best amateur players at each position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply "A ...

selection and was one of the best fullback prospects in the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the firs ...

. He was drafted in the fifth round by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

. He is nicknamed "The Terminator" because of the name he shares with the

main character A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

from the popular movie franchise and because of his aggressive blocking style against defensive players.

High school career

Conner attended

Lakota West High School Lakota West High School is a four-year, public high school in West Chester Township, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is a member of the Lakota Local School District, which comprises both West Chester Township and Liberty Township. ...

in West Chester, Ohio, where he was a two-year starter at

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. He rushed for 1,100 yards and 14 touchdowns, averaging 6.3 yards per carry, as a senior. That year, Lakota West gained an 8–3 record and a berth in the state playoffs. Conner was subsequently named first-team All-Greater Miami Conference and honorable-mention All-Southwest Ohio. Unrecognized as a prospect by the two major recruiting services, ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

'' and ''

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'', Conner was not offered an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United Stat ...

, although he received some recruiting attention from Kentucky,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

, and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, among others. He eventually chose to walk on with the Kentucky Wildcats.

College career

As a

true freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

at Kentucky, Conner appeared in the first three games of the 2005 season on special teams before sustaining a season-ending injury. He received a medical

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

and retained the year of eligibility. In his redshirt freshman season, Conner played in all 13 games, starting the first three at fullback. In his sophomore year he also played all 13 games, starting four. He scored four touchdowns and also made two tackles in kick coverage. By his junior year, Kentucky frequently opened with a fullback in the lineup, giving him 11 starts in 13 games. In a game versus

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, Conner set career highs with seven rushes for 26 yards. Prior to his senior season, Conner was named the "best blocking back" in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

in the ''

Birmingham News ''The Birmingham News'' is the principal newspaper for Birmingham, Alabama, United States. The paper is owned by Advance Publications and was a daily newspaper from its founding through September 30, 2012. After that day, the ''News'' and its two ...

'' 2009 preseason edition. After a solid performance throughout the season, Conner earned All-American honors by ''Pro Football Weekly'', which places an extra premium on talent and draft value in the selection process.

Professional career

2010 NFL Draft

Considered one of the best fullbacks available in the

, Conner was selected in the fifth round (139th overall) by the

New York Jets

In 2012, Conner struggled with an MCL sprain and hamstring injury, and was released by the Jets on October 17.

Cincinnati Bengals

Conner was signed by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

on December 15, 2012, after the team placed fullback

Chris Pressley Chris Pressley (born August 8, 1986) is a former American football fullback. He went undrafted in the 2009 NFL Draft after playing for five years for the University of Wisconsin–Madison Badgers. Pressley's maximum back squat weight is 770 poun ...

on the injured reserve list. Conner was released by the Bengals on August 31, 2013. In an episode of '' Hard Knocks'', Bengals coaches stated that though Conner was the best Fullback on the roster, they were keeping

Orson Charles Orson Charles (born January 27, 1991) is a former American football tight end and fullback. He played college football at Georgia. High school career Charles attended Riverview High School before transferring to Henry B. Plant High School in T ...

due to his special teams play, even going as far as showing Charles game film of Conner after the decision.

New York Giants

After working out with the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

, Conner was signed to a two-year contract by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

on September 25, 2013, replacing

Henry Hynoski Henry Philip Hynoski Jr. (born December 30, 1988) is a former American football fullback who played for the New York Giants from 2011 to 2014. He won Super Bowl XLVI with the team over the New England Patriots. Hynoski played college footba ...

, who suffered a fractured shoulder in Week 3 of the regular season.

Second stint with the New York Jets

Conner was re-signed by the New York Jets on September 30, 2014 after fullback

Tommy Bohanon Thomas Grant Bohanon (born September 10, 1990) is a former American football fullback and special teamer. He played college football at Wake Forest and was drafted by the New York Jets in the seventh round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He has also b ...

suffered a broken collarbone.

Buffalo Bills

Conner signed with the

on May 13, 2015, reuniting with his former head coach

Rex Ryan Rex Ashley Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American former football coach and analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), and also held various coaching position ...

. On September 4, 2015, he was released by the Bills.

References

External links

Cincinnati Bengals bioKentucky Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conner, John 1987 births Living people Players of American football from Cincinnati American football fullbacks Kentucky Wildcats football players New York Jets players Cincinnati Bengals players New York Giants players Buffalo Bills players