College football player, 18, dead two days after collapsing during workout

A assemblage shot subordinate died Saturday aft collapsing during a workout earlier successful the week.

Tight extremity Parker Sutherland of the University of Northern Iowa was conscionable 18 years aged erstwhile helium was moving done a "normal" regular with his teammates and abruptly collapsed.

"I'm heartbroken …" Northern Iowa caput manager Todd Stepsis said successful a statement. "Parker embodied everything we look for successful a UNI Football Panther.  His endowment and imaginable excited america connected a regular basis, but it failed to comparison to the benignant of idiosyncratic and teammate helium was. His character, humility, toughness and genuine emotion of others are what champions are made of. While I'm saddened that our clip unneurotic was short, we volition observe the agleam airy that helium brought to our shot squad for the remainder of our lives."

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Northern Iowa choky Parker Sutherland died successful February 2025. (IMAGN/University of Northern Iowa)

"He embraced the accidental to play Panther shot and correspond the University done sport," UNI Director of Athletics Megan Franklin added. "We are devastated — conscionable devastated. The blessing is that we person a Panther household who volition clasp the Sutherland family, our shot team, and our athletics unit adjacent arsenic we grieve."

Stepsis said the squad was moving retired Thursday greeting erstwhile they got "through our warm-up and successful a routine, mean Thursday, and helium collapsed."

"He’s 1 of one," Stepsis said. "Just an astonishing person, an astonishing family. It’s the benignant of feline you privation to physique a squad with. If I could person 110 Parkers, I would. We’re not going to beryllium capable to regenerate him, but who helium is arsenic a person, helium ever had a grin connected his face. He ever made radical consciousness bully astir themselves. So for us, it’s not astir replacing him but uncovering thing other wrong that tin assistance capable that spread and adjacent that void with him being gone."

Iowa City High’s Parker Sutherland (88) celebrates a archetypal down against Iowa City Liberty Friday, Sept. 6, 2024 astatine Iowa City High successful Iowa City, Iowa. (Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen/USA Today Network)

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"Our team, they recognize that and they admit that, and they privation to play for Parker. They privation to unrecorded similar Parker. They privation to interaction similar helium did."

Sutherland, from Iowa City, played successful 4 games successful his freshman play aft being a three-sport varsity jock successful precocious school.

His bio connected Northern Iowa's athletics leafage says helium enjoyed "video games, watching movies, pickleball and Legos."

A memorial was held for Sutherland connected Monday extracurricular the UNI Dome, with KWWL saying "hundreds" were successful attendance.

Sutherland was a three-sport jock successful precocious schoolhouse earlier attending UNI. (University of Northern Iowa)

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"I mean that mediocre kid, helium didn't adjacent cognize however bully looking helium was. He ne'er did his hair. He wore achromatic connected black. It was just, ‘Hey, spell backmost downstairs and change.’ ‘OK’ ‘Why?’ It didn't signifier him. He didn't care. He didn't attraction the littlest of anything. He didn't attraction astir what helium wore, what helium bought," his father, Adam, said astatine the memorial. "All helium wanted to bash was devour and sleep, and bent retired with the fellas. That's it.

"And physique Legos. Honestly."

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