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Frostburg State University football player Derek Sheely died from head trauma sustained on the field, his father said in a New York Times report Tuesday.
The 22-year-old fullback passed out during practice last week and died Sunday at the University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.
His father, Kenneth Sheely, said doctors told him his son had suffered severe head trauma.
"I don't know how it happened," Kenneth Sheely said. "It doesn't really matter how it happened, personally. It's not going to change the situation with Derek. But I want to let it be known that he didn't have some kind of heart condition or other kind of condition. It was severe head trauma."
Frostburg State spokeswoman Liz Medcalf said Sheely was competing in regular drills when he began feeling woozy. As he was being helped from the field, he collapsed.
Kenneth Sheely said he was not aware of his son having any concussions or head injuries.
"We're not blaming anybody, that isn't our mission right now," he added. "But hopefully somebody does make sure that if there's a lesson to be learned and it can help protect somebody else, then that should be done.
"I wouldn't want my son to just die in vain, and if something can be made better, through education or equipment or whatever it is, that would be helpful."
