14-Year-Old Football Player Passes Away After Collapsing During Practice

A 14-year-old Pop Warner football player in Connecticut passed away after collapsing during practice.

Jahkye Gayle, a member of the Bloomfield Junior Warhawks, collapsed during a non-contact warmup drill at practice.

“It was just like a walk through, essentially just light jogging. Nothing strenuous or anything like that,” Trevor Ford, the president of Junior Warhawks Football, said.

Emergency medical personnel responded to Gayle immediately after his collapse.

14-year-old Pop Warner football player dies after collapsing during practice.
https://t.co/1Ex9dAbSvv

— WBRC 6 News (@WBRCnews) December 2, 2024

WFSB reports:

On Saturday night, the community came together to honor Jahkye’s memory.

Hundreds of his teammates, friends, and family members gathered on the football field.

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They lit candles and released balloons in the sky to honor him.

“It’s hard losing my brother, someone I shared a room with, did everything with, and grew up with. He was overall a great person who changed people with his presence,” said Lamar, Jahkyes’ brother.

Jahkye was a talented football player who was known as a jokester among his teammates on the Junior Warhawks Pop Warner Football Team.

He was one of the longest tenured players in the youth football program and was scheduled to receive the lifetime achievement award at this year’s banquet.

#RIP he was 14! https://t.co/eMsAszQk0t

— Dr. Lynn Fynn-derella (@Fynnderella1) December 3, 2024

Per CT Insider:

New England Pop Warner Football & Cheer had issued an earlier statement about the death of “one of our own,” extending condolences to Bloomfield and central Connecticut. The statement, shared on Facebook, states Gayle was “more than an extraordinary athlete.”

“He was a friend, a source of inspiration and a guiding light for his team,” the statement read. “His impact was felt both on and off the field, and his memory will forever remain a part of us.”

Trevor Ford, president of Bloomfield Junior Warhawks Pop Warner, described the student-athlete as a shining star of the program, which launched four years ago.

“He was a very bright kid who always took his academics very seriously,” Ford said. “He had a very big personality. He was the sense of humor of the group. It’s always good to have that one individual who is the sun on a dark, cloudy day.”

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Gayle collapsed during football practice last Wednesday evening, according to Bloomfield officials. When Gayle collapsed, staff and emergency personnel made attempts to revive him, but were unsuccessful, officials said.

WATCH:

In related news, a 17-year-old hockey player collapsed on the ice during a charity game in honor of a fellow student who died in a car crash.

17-Year-Old Hockey Player Passes Away After Collapsing During Charity Game

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