College football linebacker Medrick Burnett Jr. has died after sustaining a head injury during an October game.
According to a statement from the Jefferson County, Alabama, coroner’s office reported by ESPN on Friday, the 20-year-old Alabama A&M athlete died Wednesday evening, just hours after his team posted and later retracted an announcement of his death.
Alabama A&M’s athletic department apologized for the mistake, calling the premature announcement an “unfortunate occurrence” in a Wednesday afternoon apology.
In its statement, the university said it was “originally advised” that Burnett had died “by an immediate family member on Tuesday evening.”
“We express our immediate regret for disseminating false information however, we hold complete joy in knowing that Medrick remains in stable condition,” the note said.
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Burnett was critically injured after a head-on collision during an Oct. 26 game between Alabama A&M and Alabama State University.
Following Wednesday morning’s error, Burnett’s mother, Denise Burnett, told WAFF-TV in Huntsville, Alabama, that her son was alive but remained hospitalized.
“When the time comes, we will issue a statement about what we have been through,” she said.
A separate statement from the family posted to a GoFundMe page for the athlete said, “Please pray he is having a tough time but we are holding on til the very end. God give us strength so we can keep the faith.”
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At the time of his injury, Burnett, a native of Lakewood, California, was in his first season with the Alabama A&M Bulldogs.
He had played seven games with the team after transferring from Louisiana’s Grambling State University.
