Alabama A&M football linebacker from Southern California dies after head injury in game
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — An Alabama A&M football player from Southern California who suffered a head injury during a game in October has died, officials said.
Medrick Burnett Jr., 20, was playing his first season as a linebacker with Alabama A&M when he sustained the injury during the annual Magic City Classic against in-state rival Alabama State on Oct. 26, the Jefferson County coroner said in a statement Friday. The coroner listed his official time of death as Wednesday evening.
For the record:
6:36 p.m. Dec. 1, 2024An earlier version of this article said Burnett was 29. He was 20 years old.
The Alabama A&M athletic department announced Burnett’s death Wednesday morning and then sent out a retraction later that day. The second statement said the initial news of Burnett’s death came “from an immediate family member on Tuesday evening.”
The redshirt freshman from Lakewood joined Alabama A&M over the summer after starting his college career at Grambling State, according to the athletics department.
A spokesperson for the department could not be reached for comment.
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