NEWS: OL Jake Donnellon, DE Mikey Haney to Miss 2022
Donnellon, now-former offensive lineman and Ann Arbor native, will take an off-field role with the team.
This was supposed to be his redemption year.
Offensive lineman Jake Donnellon missed most of the 2021 season when he went down with a leg injury in the home opener vs. St. Francis (FCS) — 17 snaps into the game and 1,908 into his collegiate career.
A week later, then-senior center Mike Van Hoeven wore Donnellon’s jersey at Wisconsin to honor his friend.
The plan was for Donnellon, the guard who’s been capable of starting on both the left and right sides of the line through 44 games (17 starts) to work his way back onto the field for 2022. When the 2020 season giving Donnellon an extra season of college ball, it behooved Donnellon to stay at Eastern, keep playing football for as long as possible, and finish up his master’s degree.
“It doesn’t look like he’s going to be able to play medically this year,” EMU head coach Chris Creighton told me on Tuesday at MAC Media Day. “He’ll still be part of the team and whatnot, so that is still not completely resolved.”
Donnellon was already the oldest guy on the team as its last surviving player on the roster to graduate high school in 2016. From Ann Arbor’s Father Gabriel Richard, Donnellon became the first player from Washtenaw County to commit and sign with EMU since 2008 when wide receiver and kick returner Marvon Sanders joined EMU from Ypsilanti HS.
Another injury to take note of entering fall camp is DE Mikey Haney, who will also miss the 2022 season, EMU coach Chris Creighton confirmed at Media Day.
Haney, defensive end from Maumee, Ohio, was expected to enter this year as a redshirt-junior year with potential to get back into the starting role. Haney started the first-half of the 2021 season, and hadn’t missed a game since he wore a redshirt in 2018.
Haney suffered his injury three months ago during EMU’s spring game in the middle of a huge rainstorm. Haney went down and was carted away when there were just 24 seconds remaining in the exhibition.
In his EMU career, Haney has played in 33 games (22 starts) and accumulated 87 total tackles (7 for loss, 5 sacks), 5 QB hurries, and 4 pass breakups.
Haney still has two years of eligibility remaining.
