A football player from Depaul University was found dead in his dormitory room on Monday, according to the college and the cook’s county medical examiner.
Chase Stegall, 20, was from Atlanta and was a second year student in the male football team. Director of Depaul, Dewayne Perevy and male football coach Mark Plotkin said Stegall was a “devoted teammate and a bonaire friend”.
“His loss will be deeply felt in all our family of athletics and university family, and his memory will be forever part of DEPAUL University,” they said in a statement.
In a message to the Depaul community, President Robert Manuel said that Stegall was known for his “heat, strength of character and dynamic presence”.
An autopsy to determine the cause and the manner of his death is planned, according to the office of the cook’s County Legalist.
According to an article written by Stegall published on the Depaul website in February, he had a story of crises. In the post, he described bouncing against injuries and being supported by his coaches, his teammates, his family and his friends.
“My teammates and friends constantly checked me too. They helped me go to the hospital and sent me SMS to make sure I was going well,” Stegall wrote. “Their kindness, their care remained with me.”
Stegall, a midfielder, started playing football at 3 years old, according to the post. He was offered a place in the team after Plotkin looked at him during a showcase in California.
After a first “stimulating” year in the team where he had no playing time, he rebounded for a solid second year season and described having scored his first goal as “one of the best feelings I have ever had”.
“I will never forget it,” he wrote.
His second year, Stegall played in 16 of the 17 games of the team and saw 369 minutes in total playing time, according to DEPAUL ATHLETICS.
Stegall was trying to prioritize the mentoring of his young teammates and had plans for his role in the team to continue to develop, he wrote in the position.
Stegall has a brother, Collin, and is the son of Darlene and Milton Stegall, who played in the NFL for three seasons with the Bengals of Cincinnati and the Canadian Football League for 14 years with the Blue Bombers Winnipeg.
“Chase was a brilliant and talented young man with a promising future, and his loss is deeply made in our whole Blue Bombers family,” published the Blue Bombers on Instagram.
