Medrick Burnett Jr.: Alabama A&M football player dies after game head injury

Birmingham, Alabama
AP
—

An Alabama A&M football player who suffered a head injury during a game in October has died, officials said.

Medrick Burnett Jr., 20, was playing his first season at linebacker with Alabama A&M University when he suffered a head injury during the annual Magic City Classic in Birmingham against in-state rival Alabama State University on Oct. 26, the Jefferson County coroner said in a statement Friday.

The coroner listed his official time of death as late Wednesday afternoon.

The Alabama A&M athletics department announced Burnett’s death Wednesday morning and then issued a retraction later that day. The second statement said the first news of Burnett’s death came “from an immediate family member on Tuesday evening.”

The redshirt freshman from Lakewood, Calif., joined Alabama A&M’s staff over the summer after starting his college career at Grambling State, according to the athletic department.

A spokesman for the athletic department could not be reached by phone Friday.

Burnett played in seven games and made five tackles, including three against Austin Peay.