Portland State offensive lineman Kyle Smith dies
Portland State offensive lineman Kyle Smith died Wednesday evening according to the school. He was 22.
Smith is the second Portland State player to die in 2016. Linebacker A.J. Schlatter died after complications following tonsil surgery in January.
“I feel we have the most united, close-knit football team in America, and we just lost a major piece of that team in Kyle. Right now we have two concerns, Kyle’s family and our football players,” Portland State head coach Bruce Barnum said in a statement. “The program is being tested but we will come out of this on top.”
A spokesperson told The Oregonian there were no details available regarding Smith’s death.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of Kyle Smith,” PSU athletic director Mark Rountree said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time. I would ask the Viking family to support our student-athletes and coaches with love and caring during this difficult time. We must all must show resolve to cope with this tragedy as best we can.”
Smith had started 36-straight games for the Vikings and spent the 2015 season at left tackle, where he was a second-team All-Big Sky selection. He was set to be a redshirt senior in 2016.
[Check out Dr. Saturday on Tumblr for entertaining things you won’t see on the blog]
[Visit Dr. Saturday on Facebook for stories you might have missed and chat with the writers]
– – – – – – –
Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
