Player out of hospital after near-fatal injury

HOUSTON (AP) - A Univeristy of Houston defensive back has left the hospital, six days after taking a hit in practice tore a major vein that feeds the heart.

A statement from the university says cornerback D.J. Hayden was discharged from Memorial Hermann-Texas Trauma Institute in Houston on Monday afternoon. UH athletics spokesman David Bassity says Hayden and his family won't be available for comment immediately.

Team physician Dr. Walter Lowe has said the senior was taken by ambulance to Memorial Hermann Hospital after the collision last Tuesday. Hayden was rushed into immediate surgery for a tear of the inferior vena cava, the large vein that carries blood from the lower half of the body to the heart.