Hendon Hooker appears to confirm long held suspicion that Tennessee fans have about his ACL injury against South Carolina in 2022
Hendon Hooker tore his ACL in the Tennessee Vols’ loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks in 2022.
There are a handful of games that Tennessee Vols fans would love to pretend never happened.
One of those games is definitely Tennessee’s road loss to South Carolina in 2022, which essentially knocked the Vols out of the College Football Playoff.
That game was a nightmare for several reasons. For one, there were rumors that Tennessee had locker room issues following the 25-point loss (those rumors were unprofessionally spread by ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit). Secondly, it seems likely at this point that South Carolina had Tennessee’s signs/signals (via the Connor Stalions scandal).
There was also the fact that quarterback Hendon Hooker tore his ACL in the loss to the Gamecocks, effectively ending his college career.
At the time of the injury, Vols fans pointed out that South Carolina’s field that night had an excessive amount of sand, which could’ve contributed to Hooker’s injury.
Hendon Hooker says the field didn’t feel right before the South Carolina game
Hooker joined 104.5 The Zone’s 3HL on Friday, and he was asked about his ACL injury.
The former Tennessee quarterback pointed out that the field didn’t feel right before the game against South Carolina, and noted that he had torn his meniscus the previous week in the Vols’ win against Missouri.
“What’s really crazy is I didn’t run prior to that game the entire week,” said Hooker. “I was just sitting in the pocket throwing the ball. I tore my meniscus the game before, against Missouri. So essentially, I’m playing the entire South Carolina game on a torn meniscus.
“The third play of the game, I take off for 50 yards (it was actually 29 yards). I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m good to go.’ The next time I tried to run, I put my foot in the ground, and I have no meniscus, so there’s nothing to stabilize the ACL. But I had a feeling [because] the ground didn’t feel good to me pregame. It was sandy. I was like, ‘This doesn’t feel right.’ It was a tough deal.”
The torn meniscus was probably the biggest catalyst for Hooker’s torn ACL, but the field conditions certainly didn’t help.
Tennessee will play at South Carolina this upcoming season for the first time since the nightmare in Columbia in 2022.
Hendon Hooker’s NFL Career
- Draft & Early Career: Selected by the Detroit Lions in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft, he spent most of his rookie season on the non-football injury list recovering from a torn ACL.
- 2024 Season (Detroit): Served as a backup and made his NFL debut in Week 6 of 2024, relieving Jared Goff in a 47-9 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
- 2025-2026: Waived by the Lions in August 2025, he signed with the Carolina Panthers practice squad, later joined the New York Jets practice squad in December 2025, and was promoted to their active roster in January 2026.