Cannon recovering from car accident

A good meal and some good family times behind him, the Tennessee redshirt freshman slipped a John Legend CD into the stereo and hopped on a backroad headed for Interstate 40 just after 3 p.m. Sunday.

"But then I came up on a turn, and the steering wheel locked,'' Cannon said Thursday night, hours after being released from Greenville (S.C.) Memorial Hospital. "I tried to move the wheel. When it wouldn't move, I looked up and saw the tree coming at me.''

Traveling at 60 mph, Cannon said there wasn't time for his life to flash before his eyes.

But there was time for the former high school quarterback turned safety to unbuckle his seatbelt and leap from the car.

"It was me or the tree,'' Cannon said. "I figured the tree would still be standing.''

It was.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pounder hit the grass hard and tumbled three or four times, covering about 10 feet by his estimation.

Cannon never lost consciousness. When he looked up, his car was totaled, broken into three pieces.

Cannon suffered significant gashes and bruises - he has staples in his side and stitches on his nose - but amazingly, no broken bones or injuries to muscles, ligaments or tendons.

Cannon was told each day he was healthy enough to go home from the hospital, but the doctors, perhaps amazed at his well-being, kept him throughout the week to run more tests.

"I feel like I feel after the first week in pads,'' Cannon said.

"I have to go back to the doctor Tuesday, and then I'll be cleared to come back up to school. I think I'll be able to go through drills.''

UT defensive coordinator John Chavis, who recruited Cannon, admits he was shaken by the events.

"Sinclair is a great, quality kid who has been raised the right way,'' Chavis said. "This was the same scenario with Sean Ellis a few years ago. I'm just thankful Sinclair is alive and with us.''

Ellis recovered from his injuries and went on to be a first-round pick for the New York Jets, where he has ranked among NFL sack leaders as a defensive end.

Cannon, who will battle for a starting job at safety this spring and fall, said his brush with death has enlightened him.

"You realize you have to live each day like it's your last day, because you never know,'' Cannon said. "And you need to be sure to be grateful to the people you have around you.''