Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Wearing a neck brace and the scars and bruises that came with a Sunday motorcycle accident, Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino said he feels "very fortunate" to be out of the hospital and back at work.

Petrino was released from the hospital less than 48 hours after the wreck. He was at Razorback Stadium for practice Tuesday after sustaining a number of injuries including four broken ribs, a cracked vertebrae and a neck sprain.

"I'm very fortunate and feel very lucky to be here and be in good health. It was a situation where I don't remember a lot about exactly what happened," Petrino said. "I noticed the sun was going to be in my eyes the rest of the way home and it got to the point where I wasn't going to be able to maneuver the turn. There was about 15 seconds where I said, 'Oh no, here I go.' "

Petrino landed in a pile of brush about 20 yards from where his Harley Davidson left the road just outside Crosses, Arkansas. He confirmed (as ArkansasSports360.com reported Monday) that he was not wearing a helmet.

Before leaving his house in east Fayetteville for a ride that took him past Elkins and southeast of town on Highway 16, Petrino said he considered two helmets. He settled for a hat after deciding one helmet option would be too hot and the other unflattering.

Arkansas law does not require riders over the age of 21 to wear a helmet.

"Obviously bad call,” Petrino joked. “We wouldn’t have converted the third down."

Throughout a nearly 11-minute interview Petrino cracked several jokes. But there were a number of serious moments as well.

Petrino recalled the moments immediately following his wreck.

Motorists passing by the scene picked up Petrino, he said, helping get him into town where he was handed over to state trooper Lance King, who handles the coach’s security during the season. King transported Petrino to Physician’s Specialty Hospital in Fayetteville where doctors were preparing for treatment.

Petrino said his first call was to team doctor Chris Arnold. Doctors released Petrino from the hospital at mid-morning and cleared him for work, but he’ll be in a neck brace for one and maybe two weeks. During his Tuesday press conference Petrino noted he had neck surgery last year.

Arkansas State Police have yet to release an accident report. But Petrino said a blood test was administered and would show he had not consumed alcohol prior to hitting the road on his motorcycle.