Football player at Liberty University in Virginia, Tajh Boyd, died at 19 years old, just weeks before his 20th birthday.
“It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of the loss of one of our student-athletes, Tajh Boyd,” head coach Jamey Chadwell and athletic director Ian McCaw announced in a department statement.
The cause of death has not been revealed.
Boyd was a healthy 6-foot-4, 295-pound freshman from Chesapeake, Virginia.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Tajh’s family, his teammates and friends, our football coaching staff, as well as our entire athletics department and the greater Liberty University community. We grieve together as a family and will seek guidance, comfort, and understanding from the Lord during these difficult times.”
Boyd won a pair of state titles after being heavily recruited out of Oscar F. Smith High School in Chesapeake, Virginia, The Daily Mail reports.
According to his Liberty bio page, he received scholarship offers from Bowling Green, Buffalo, Campbell, Duke, Jackson State, James Madison, Maine, Maryland, Morgan State, Norfolk State, North Carolina A&T, and Virginia Tech.
Conference USA has also released a statement following Boyd’s death:
“We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Liberty Football student-athlete Tajh Boyd. Our thoughts are with the Boyd family and Flames nation during this difficult time.”
Boyd has recently created a new profile pic on Twitter, showing him jogging ahead of the upcoming season.
Boyd cited his mother as his main inspiration, Tanzania Belfield.
“She raised me by herself with no help and she the strongest person I know,” he told the school website.
“She never gave up.”
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