As the world prepares to watch the Tides go up against WKU on September 1st, no one would’ve thought that they would get hit with such sad news. MLFootball took to X on August 26th to share that Alabama high school QB Caden Tellier had tragically passed away. The incident happened during the opening game against Southern Academy on Friday. During the third quarter of the game, the boy was tackled, and that caused him to suffer a traumatic brain injury.

Now, on August 28th, Steelers QB Russell Wilson took to X to share his sadness regarding the entire situation. “So sad. Praying for all close to Caden,” Wilson wrote while sharing the post made by MLFootball. It would be an understatement to say that the kid had a bright future ahead of him. During the 2023 season, Caden went on to record some really good stats. The QB had accumulated around 1200+ yards under his belt, along with 7 TDs. The school’s headmaster, Bryan Oliver, also took to Facebook to break the sad news. “Caden loved the lord…..he graced the halls of Morgan Academy,” Oliver had noted. As soon as the injury happened, Caden was rushed to the hospital. The staff had announced that he passed away just a day later.

Caden’s passing wasn’t the first incident that took place this year. Back in August, New Brockton High School’s Semaj Wilkins passed away due to reported high temperatures. The kid was the RB for the team and was regarded as a solid player when it came down to roll out to catch passes or running the ball. The incident took place during a practice session back in school. Regina Johnson-Adams, Wilkins’ mother, was present at the scene. “I grabbed everything I could think of and ran out,” Adams had noted during an interview with a local news outlet. Deaths during practice or games have become some sort of common issue in the past few years.

Losing more kids

More than 65% of teenagers (out of the 77 recorded cases) have passed away due to heat-related issues during matches since the 2000s. If we look at current data, then around 22 kids have passed away between 2022 and 2028. The physical toll that football takes on the players has raised multiple questions regarding high school football and its moral viability.

Caden and Semaj aren’t the only ones who met a tragic end. Ovet Gomez-Regalado also passed away during practice back in Kansas City. Another kid, Jayvion Taylor, also met a tragic end during his practice session in Virginia. All the deaths were the result of extreme heat and exhaustion. Can there be any change to fix this problem?