Connecticut Teen Football Player Dies After Sudden Collapse During Practice: ‘He Was a Gentle Giant’

A Connecticut high school is mourning the loss of a 15-year-old student who collapsed during football practice Tuesday afternoon and later died.

Elijah-Jay Mariano-Rivera, an eleventh-grader at Windsor High School, reportedly lost consciousness on the field Tuesday afternoon, WVIT reported.

Coaches and paramedics administered CPR, and he was rushed to Connecticut Children's Hospital in Hartford, but medical staff couldn't revive him.

He wasn't actively participating in drills or tackles before his collapse, according to the school district. The cause of his death remains unknown.

Maria Tostarelli, a freshman at the school, remembered Mariano-Rivera as "very nice, a very funny kid [who] just always brightened up whenever he walked into a room."

Another friend, Alyssa Kelly, shared a similar memory: "He could just walk into a room and he just lights up the whole room with that smile on his face," she said.

The school said it would have crisis teams available for students and staff, while the state's Interscholastic Athletic Conference pledged to support the school's football team.

The team said it would dedicate this season to Mariano-Rivera, whom his teammates called "Big Texas," as well as Clifford Knight, an assistant volunteer coach at the school who died unexpectedly of natural causes in June.

Mariano-Rivera's mother, Chastity Hernandez, told CTInsider that he was the youngest of eight siblings but was the "tallest of them all."

He was born in Texas but mostly grew up in Connecticut. He returned to Texas in 2019 but moved back to Connecticut in June to "focus on school and football," she said.

Hernandez said her son dreamed of one day moving to Atlanta to play for the Falcons, his favorite NFL team.

"He was the most kind-hearted boy," Hernandez recalled. "He was a gentle giant."