Former Mayfair of Lakewood football player has died, coroner says – Press Telegram

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama A&M football player who suffered a head injury during a game in October has died.

Medrick Burnett Jr., 20, was playing his first season as a linebacker at Alabama A&M University when he suffered a head injury in the annual Magic City Classic against rival Alabama State University on Oct. 26, the Jefferson County coroner said in a statement on Friday. The coroner gave the official time of death as Wednesday evening.

The Alabama A&M athletic department announced Burnett’s death Wednesday morning and sent out a retraction later in the 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 Mayfair High School in Lakewood, Calif., joined the Alabama A&M team over the summer after beginning his college career at Grambling State, according to the athletics department.

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

Before beginning his college career, Burnett received honorable mention to the Long Beach Press-Telegram Football Dream Team for the 2022 season.

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