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''This is by far the saddest day ever for me as a coach and for our Gator teams,'' Spurrier says of the death of Eraste Autin.
By JOANNE KORTH
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 26, 2001
GAINESVILLE -- Florida freshman fullback Eraste Autin died early Wednesday afternoon of complications related to heat stroke, six days after collapsing following a voluntary workout.
"This is by far the saddest day ever for me as a coach and for our Gator teams as we have lost a wonderful, outstanding young man, Eraste Autin," coach Steve Spurrier said in a statement.
Autin, 18, a 6-foot-2, 255-pound fullback from Lafayette, La., collapsed July 19 outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, on his way from the practice field to the locker room after completing a voluntary conditioning workout with teammates.
Members of UF's training staff attended to Autin until an ambulance arrived. After reaching the hospital, Autin had a massive heart attack and fell into a coma, according to family friends. Early tests showed no brain activity and he never regained consciousness.
At the request of Autin's parents, Dr. David and Joanie Autin, no medical information is being released by hospital or school officials.
"Today is a day of incredible sadness and grief," UF athletic director Jeremy Foley said at a news conference Wednesday evening. "On behalf of this entire athletic program we send our sincerest and deepest condolences to the family."
Autin is the 18th high school or college football player since 1995 to die from heat stroke, the most serious of heat-related conditions, according to Dr. Fred Mueller of the University of North Carolina's sports medicine department.
Heat stroke occurs when all of the body's cooling mechanisms shut down, causing a core body temperature of 106 degrees or hotter. According to friends, Autin's body temperature when he reached the hospital was 108.
"Some of our recommendations say you have to be careful of the kid who always goes hard and never stops," Mueller said. "They're the ones that no matter how they're feeling have to try harder and do their best."
According to teammates, Autin fit that description, having already established himself as one of the hardest-working members of the freshman class. Because of lack of depth at fullback, Autin was expected to contribute this season.
"His freshman teammate, Todd McCullough, told me that Eraste was the most well-rounded 18-year-old he'd ever known," said Spurrier, who at the urging of Autin's family attended a previously scheduled booster event Wednesday in Orlando. "He had a strong faith in God, he loved his family dearly, his goal was to make at least a 3.5 GPA his freshman year, and he was committed to being the best football player he could be."
Autin was enrolled in UF's Summer B session with the rest of the freshman class.
He passed a complete physical July 2 and began voluntary workouts that day.
The workout after which Autin collapsed was his 10th. On that day he lifted weights from 2:30-3:30 p.m. and completed a conditioning session from 4-4:50 p.m. that included a 10-minute warmup (light mobility drills), five minutes of stretching, five minutes at each of four agility stations and 15 minutes of sprints.
The sprints were two 200-yard runs, two 150-yard runs, two 100-yard runs and a final 200-yard run with roughly 85-90 seconds of rest between each sprint, according to a release issued Wednesday by the athletic department.
According to UF officials, Autin completed all drills with no visible signs of distress and left the field for the locker room under his own power.
He was observed drinking water during the workout, which was attended by four athletic trainers and three members of the strength and conditioning staff.
The weather conditions on July 19 were typical of this time of year in central Florida: 88 degrees, 72 percent humidity, a heat index of 102 degrees.
"We're comfortable with what we've been doing," Foley said of the off-season regimen. "We're comfortable with what our staff has been doing. Evaluating what you do is part of our job ... and we'll see where that takes us."
Wednesday was an off-day for workouts, but coaches met with players to inform them of Autin's death.
"Any time we lose someone in the football family or athletics family it is tough," freshman defensive back Tre Orr said. "I went and talked to my roommate and it was pretty tough. I'm sure (when we're all together today) it will be pretty sad."
Grief counselors are available for members of the football team and staff, Foley said.
Autin is the second freshman football player in Florida to die in the past six months.
FSU freshman linebacker Devaughn Darling collapsed and died after a strenuous off-season workout in February.
"All of us associated with the Florida State football program wish to extend out deepest sympathy to the family of Eraste Autin," Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said in a statement.
"The death of a young person is always a tragedy. While our thoughts and prayers are with his family, we know firsthand how difficult it will be on his teammates at Florida as well as the coaching and support staff. I want them to know our thoughts and prayers are with them also."
In Darling's case, no "definite morphological cause" of death could be determined, although the medical examiner noted that Darling had a rare sickle cell trait, the presence of one abnormal hemoglobin gene.
An increasing number of studies have linked that trait to exercise-associated sudden death.
So far, members of the Florida athletic family have even fewer ways to explain why an 18-year-old in seemingly peak physical condition collapsed from heat stroke.
The exact cause of death will not be certain until an autopsy is performed.
"It's human nature any time you have a situation like this to ask, 'Why?' Foley said. "Why this young man? Why now? Why this?' That's human nature and those are the things that keep you up at night."
Foley said he spoke Wednesday afternoon with FSU athletic director Dave Hart.
"There have been tragedies on both campuses and it's phenomenal that it has happened twice in this state," Foley said. "Dave offered some insight, but insight, advice, that doesn't change what's happened here. ... The sense of loss for this entire program, you can't escape it."
Autin is survived by his parents, two sisters, Julia and Camille, and a twin brother, Robert, who plays football at Louisiana-Lafayette.
Funeral arrangements have not yet been made.
Foley choked back tears as he described seeing the family off at the Gainesville airport Wednesday afternoon and his final words to Autin's father.
"I told him I'd see him at the service," Foley said, tears welling in his eyes. "And I told him that we were sorry."
- Staff writer Brian Landman and correspondent Debi Jones contributed to this report.