There was sadness within him, nothing more or less. When he learned that Evan Murray, a 17-year-old quarterback at Warren Hills Regional High School in Washington, N.J., had died from football last Friday night, Miles Austin did not tie the tragedy to any aspect of his own life, his own experiences in the sport. He could have. The connections were apparent.
During a game against Summit High School, Murray rose from the ground after a tackle, his teammates steadying him as he wobbled, and walked off the field before collapsing on the sideline. He flashed a thumbs-up sign before getting into an ambulance, unaware that the hit - or perhaps an earlier one; there's no way to know for certain - had lacerated his spleen and caused him to hemorrhage internally.