Owen Coyne’s senior football season was supposed to be about everything that came next. The Marblehead High School wide receiver and safety had been named one of his team’s three captains. He had committed to Williams College.

He was playing three sports, preparing for college, and looking forward to a final season with the teammates he had grown up with. However, the 17-year-old died this week after suffering a sudden brain hemorrhage.

“It is with profound sadness and indescribable grief that we share that Owen passed away after a sudden brain hemorrhage,” Owen’s mother, Angela Paradise, told Marblehead Current. “Owen (Owie to his family, OC to his friends, teammates and coaches ) was the sweetest soul you’ll ever meet — truly a gift!”

Coyne had played in Marblehead’s Week 3 game at Scituate on Sept. 25, but there has been no report connecting that game to his medical emergency. The family has not disclosed what caused the bleeding. However, they clarified that the hemorrhage wasn’t caused by an impact.

Coyne was a 6-foot-4, 180-pound senior who played both wide receiver and safety. His athletic profile extended well beyond football. He played center field and pitched for Marblehead’s baseball team and competed in indoor track, where he came close to winning a state championship in the high jump.

His track coach, Nolan Raimo, said Coyne was a top-10 sprinter and high jumper in Marblehead history.

“He was one of the most gifted student-athletes that I have coached,” Nolan Raimo said to Marblehead Current. “His tenacity, passion, and care he exhibited in his athletic career was only outdone by his dedication, care, and empathy he demonstrated to the people around him.”

There was also a different side to him away from the field. Coyne was a sailing instructor in Marblehead and an avid boater. His mother described him as a proud football captain who was excited about his senior season.

In fact, he had already made his college decision. Williams College was supposed to be the next chapter. Coyne had committed to play football there, and his family had visited the campus before he made the decision.

“The day we visited this campus, toured the grounds and met the team and staff, we knew then that Owen had found his next ‘home,’” Paradise wrote.

Williams coach Mark Raymond said the school was “extremely excited” about Coyne joining the program and called him a special young man and outstanding student-athlete. At Marblehead, his role went beyond catching passes.

Coyne described being a captain as being a leader on and off the field. He talked about pushing teammates who were struggling through practice and making sure they kept working. That matched how coaches and people around the program described him.

People remember Owen Coyne and the influence he had on Marblehead

Marblehead baseball coach Mike Giardi remembered him as a great baseball player but an even better person. Moreover, the community’s response showed how much ground Coyne covered in his short life.

Marblehead canceled its football game against Danvers. The school opened its doors for students and staff who needed counseling, with additional support planned during the school day in the coming weeks.

Other Massachusetts football programs also sent messages of support. His classmates, though, found another way to remember him. At a girls’ field hockey game Friday, students wore shirts bearing Coyne’s No. 18.

His family also learned that his organs would be donated to five people. That may become one of the final pieces of Coyne’s story, but it is hardly the only one.

“Owen was a wonderful, respectful son, a doting older brother to Grady, Landon and Ella, and a beloved grandson, cousin and nephew,” Paradise said. “He surrounded himself with the very best friends and teammates a boy could have.”

Now, the Marblehead community is going through this devastating loss. On October 3, his high school’s superintendent, John Robidoux, released a statement and called his passing a “difficult time” for the community.

For his friends, Coyne was a cheerful, kind, and influential person within those circles. “From people I talked to, he was just such a kind guy and everyone really loved him,” Jackson Nutt, one of Coyne’s classmates, told People.com.