'Heartbroken': America rocked by college player's tragic death at 24
American sport has been rocked by the tragic news that college football star Chris Brown has died at the age of 24.
The former offensive lineman was a prized member of the 2016 and 2017 teams at the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans.
'CUE THE OUTRAGE': Brutal backlash over divisive virus action
WOW: Ugly fallout after sexual assault 'victims' compared to 'terrorists'
'DOESN'T MAKE SENSE': Ex-NFL player kills five in mass shooting
USC head coach Clay Helton announced the horrible news on Sunday.
Heartbroken to hear the news that we lost Chris Brown today. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Brown family. Chris meant so much to so many. Great person, player, teammate, and Trojan. God bless my friend. You are forever in our hearts.
— Clay Helton (@USCCoachHelton) April 18, 2021
"Heartbroken to hear the news that we lost Chris Brown today," Helton wrote on Twitter.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Brown family. Chris meant so much to so many. Great person, player, teammate, and Trojan. God bless my friend. You are forever in our hearts."
The cause of Brown's death was not immediately clear.
Brown played at USC from 2015-18, appearing in 53 games. He earned All Pac-12 honourable mentions and was named USC Offensive Lineman of the Year as a junior in 2017 while starting all 14 games at left guard protecting Sam Darnold.
He was also a full-time starter as a senior.
Fans pay respects after Brown's tragic passing
He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2019, but never played in the NFL. He started five games with the XFL's DC Defenders in 2020.
Brown is the second former USC lineman to die at a young age in the last year. Max Tuerk died of an enlarged heart last June at 26 years old after collapsing on a trail while hiking with his parents.
Darnold was among those to express his shock and sadness at the tragic news of his former teammate's passing.
Taking to Instagram on Monday, the Carolina Panthers QB referred to his former USC teammate as “the greatest dude ever.”
“Still can’t believe this,” Darnold wrote. “Rest easy brotha.”
His sentiments were shared by fans across social media.
Awful news... former Defenders guard Chris Brown died yesterday. 😔 pic.twitter.com/G77jkJwFZs
— r/XFL on reddit (@redditXFL) April 19, 2021
Our condolences to the Chris Brown family! #usc #trojannation
— Bob P. | Photographer | TX (@Bphotography562) April 19, 2021
Rest In Peace brotha. Learned a lot from you. Prayers up to the Brown family🙏🏽 https://t.co/QSVpaAzx1T
— Alijah Vera-Tucker (@ALIJAHVT) April 18, 2021
So devastated to learn of the passing of my guy Chris Brown today. Loved you man. A great @USC_FB Trojan and a great young man. My prayers to his family. RIP in peace brother. 🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/ncyZedKhmI
— Hart Leadership/From The Hart Podcast (@Hart_Leadership) April 18, 2021
It’s sad to hear that former USC player Chris Brown has passed away at only 24 years old. The former teammate of Sam Darnold was USC lineman of the year back in 2017. Brown was briefly with the LA Chargers and played 5 games in the XFL last year with the @XFLDefenders RIP 🙏 https://t.co/j7X4swEU0q pic.twitter.com/VpLMOBNuTN
— Mike Mitchell (@ByMikeMitchell) April 19, 2021
Another crushing loss to @USC_FB family as former Offensive Lineman #ChrisBrown RIP has died at age 24 - Chris started his last 2 seasons for the #Trojans in 2017-18 this sad news is less than a year that former SC center #MaxTuerk died at 26 from an enlarged heart #FightOn
— Sports X Radio (@sportsxradio) April 19, 2021
with Yahoo Sport US
Watch 'Mind Games', the new series from Yahoo Sport Australia exploring the often brutal mental toil elite athletes go through in pursuit of greatness:
Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.
