Alabama A&M football player Medrick Burnett Jr. dies – NBC Los Angeles

An Alabama A&M football player who suffered a head injury during a game last month has died, a coroner’s official said Friday.

Medrick Burnett Jr., 20, was injured Oct. 26 when the Bulldogs faced Alabama State in an annual gridiron game called the Magic City Classic. The redshirt freshman linebacker played in seven games this season after transferring from Grambling to Alabama A&M.

Burnett was pronounced dead Wednesday, said AJ Clifton, deputy medical examiner with the Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner Office. Clifton declined to comment on Burnett’s cause and manner of death, but said officials planned to release a statement Saturday.

University officials issued a retraction Wednesday after incorrectly stating in a statement that Burnett had died.

The university’s athletic department called the initial statement an “unfortunate incident,” the school said of the deleted online ad after it was “initially informed by an immediate family member of Burnett’s death Tuesday night.”

Alabama A&M did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.

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