Safety has been at the forefront of the conversation in the football community, leading to significant changes in the sport. While we’ve seen kick returns in college football nearly go extinct in hopes of reducing head injuries, it hasn’t solved the issue completely.
The college football community learned this the hard way back in October when Alabama A&M linebacker Medrick Burnett Jr. suffered an in-game head injury.
On Wednesday, November 27th, Burnett passed away. By Friday, coroners ruled his official cause of death stemmed from from the head injury he sustained on October 26th.
Alabama A&M previously put out a statement on Wednesday morning, informing the public of Burnett’s passing, before later retracting their news report after hearing from a representative of the UAB hospital.
Statement from Athletics
— Alabama A&M Athletics (@_AAMUAthletics) November 27, 2024
We retract the news of the passing of Medrick Burnette Jr, that was originally advised by an immediate family member on Tuesday evening. Our staff acted accordingly to the wishes of the family member to inform the A&M community and beyond of
“We express our immediate regret for disseminating false information,” Alabama A&M said in its second statement Wednesday.
Burnett, 20, was a redshirt freshman for Alabama A&M. He had played in seven games this season, tallying five tackles, after transferring from Grambling State.
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