Rutgers QB charged after bar fight; victim may not survive

Rutgers quarterback Philip Nelson — who just transferred from Minnesota in January — made it to a jail cell before he ever got to the football field, charged with one count of first degree assault and one count of third-degree assault in connection with a bar fight that left 24-year-old Isaac Kolstad in critical condition.

Nelson appeared in Blue Earth County (Minn.) court Monday wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, with his hands cuffed and his ankles chained. First-degree assault carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
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While Nelson was in court, Kolstad was in the Mayo Clinic in Mankato, Minn. According to the complaint filed Monday afternoon, a neurosurgeon with the hospital said Kolstad was suffering from “a severe head injury and a severe pulmonary injury,” and he’s not sure if the victim will survive. In the complaint, witnesses described Nelson as being upset over attention being paid to his girlfriend. A police sergeant who viewed surveillance video described Kolstad — who played at Minnesota State — as striking Nelson in the back, then moving away and being pursued and struck by an unidentified man, who fled the scene.

“Nelson pushes past others, approaches I.K. [Kolstad] and delivers at least one kick to the left side of I.K.’s head. Sergeant Knutson noted the video clearly shows that I.K. was defenseless as Nelson delivers the kick or kicks to the head,’’ the complaint reads. Witnesses said words had been exchanged between Nelson and Kolstad, with video showing Kolstad hitting Nelson on the back, causing him to fall into another person.

Witnesses described it as a “non-fighting” punch, but did say the two had a “heated exchange.” The statement of probable cause said witnesses notified police Kolstad was lying on the ground near Blue Bricks bar. Nelson was arrested at 2 a.m. but his lawyer, Jim Fleming, said he “was not an aggressor in this situation” and added he wasn’t sure who caused Kolstad’s injuries.

Nelson started most of his first two seasons at Minnesota, throwing for 1,306 yards, nine touchdowns and six interceptions last year, and rushed for 364 more yards. But he transferred to Rutgers in search of a more pass-oriented scheme that better suited his talents. Nelson’s family couldn’t be reached for comment, and a Rutgers spokesman declined to comment. Nelson participated in spring practice at Rutgers and would have to sit out next season — the Scarlet Knights’ first in the Big Ten — as a transfer, and would have had two more years of eligibility. But all that seems up in the air now.