Two days after Northern Illinois freshman tight end Parker Sutherland died at 18 years old on Saturday, Feb. 14, UNI coach Todd Stepsis addressed the media for the first time.
Of Sutherland, who died two days after collapsing during a routine offseason workout, Sutherland said:
‘I have some things written down. That’s usually not my style. When I have to speak about things, I usually speak from the heart, so I’ll probably be all over the place.’
Stepsis then gathered himself, choking up at times as he spoke.
‘Yeah it’s been tough. You know?’ he began. ‘It’s been a tough couple of days for the team. For the community. For our family. For obviously Parker’s family. But we’re just, we’re crushed. We really are. Sometimes you wonder why things like this happen. Why it’s, for whatever reason, why it’s somebody’s time to go. So unfortunately for Parker, um, his time was this past weekend. … We wanted to make sure we talked to everybody because there’s a lot different now. And we wear these shirts that say ‘Panther Strength.’ And it really has been on full display.’
Stepsis also addressed what happened, to the best of his knowledge, though details remain sparse.
“We get right through our warm-up in a routine, normal Thursday and he collapsed…” he said. “… For whatever reason, right after that, that warm-up, something happened. We’re not really sure what it was.”
Stepsis found ways to praise the medical staff for Sutherland, saying the ‘hospital staff was fantastic.’
UNI opens its season Saturday, Sept. 5, against the Eastern Washington Eagles in Eastern Washington. Its home opener will be against Drake on Saturday, Sept. 12. No cause of death for Sutherland has been announced.