Chicago High School Football Player Died from Head Injury: Medical Examiner

Autopsy results have revealed that Bogan High School senior Andre Smith died of blunt force injuries to the head due to football.

Smith, 17, was taken unconscious from the field Thursday during a game against Chicago Vocational High School. He never regained consciousness, and died Friday morning. His death has been ruled an accident.

An announcer at the game said Smith was injured during the final play, when “a guy blocked him, hit him pretty good and that was it. He went down and he got back up.”

Minutes later, Smith reportedly complained of a headache, and then lost consciousness.

Read more: Chicago High School Player Dies after Injured During Football Game

“He was just a great kid, never negative,” friend Cantrell Davis told the Chicago Sun-Times. “His smile was just perfect.”

He was a jokester, his stepfather Dwayne told the Chicago Tribune—”a good guy who was always a lot of fun.”

He had goals of playing at the collegiate level, with hopes of walking on to the team at Western Illinois next year.