Alabama high school football player dies of brain injury sustained during game

A high school football star has died after suffering a brain injury during a game on Friday night, his school and family have confirmed.

Quarterback Caden Tellier, 16, was injured during a tackle in the third quarter, playing for the John T. Morgan Academy, a private school in Selma, Alabama, versus Southern Academy.

His mother, Arsella Slagel Tellier, said in a Facebook post on Saturday: “Everyone who knows Caden has known kindness, generosity and love, and true to his nature, he is giving of himself one more time.”

“Lives have been touched by the way he lived and now lives will be saved through his passing,” she said.

The specific details of what happened in the moment before and during the tackle are unclear. A GoFundMe page to cover funeral expenses, which has already raised $75,000 of its $100,000 target, said Tellier died from a “traumatic brain injury.” The GoFundMe page also mentions that Tellier was an organ donor.

Morgan Academy headmaster Dr. Bryan Oliver said in a statement to NBC affiliate WSFA of Montgomery that “there are no words to describe how we feel as a school community and family.” Morgan Academy has about 350 students.

“It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that Caden Tellier has gone to be with his Lord and Savior. Caden loved the Lord with all his heart and was a shining light every day he graced the halls of Morgan Academy,” he said.

Michael McLendon, executive director of the Alabama Independent School Association said in a statement that he backed the school’s decision to cancel all classes and activities this week, “giving their community time to come together, reflect, and support one another through this heartbreaking time.”

“As a small school, Morgan Academy feels this tragedy even more deeply,” McLendon said. The school has 339 students, according to its website.

Tellier’s death is the latest in a string of deaths involving high school football players. A West Texas high school player also died from a head injury in 2022, while a student died during football practice in Florida in 2021 and a 15-year-old boy died after collapsing during practice in Georgia the same year.