A 15-year-old high school football player died during practice this week in Connecticut, authorities said. Elijah-Jay Mariano Rivera collapsed and lost consciousness on Tuesday afternoon at Windsor High School in Windsor, Conn., according to CBS affiliate WFSB-TV. Coaches provided CPR until emergency personnel arrived. Rivera was transported to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford, where he was pronounced dead, per the news station. Windsor superintendent Terrell Hill told WFSB that the athlete was “not engaged in any football drills, or tackling” at the time of his medical emergency. Teammates and friends called Rivera “Big Tex” for his appearance and because the teen had moved to the area from Fort Worth, Texas over the summer, according to CT Insider. The youngest of eight children, he was also the tallest, his mother Chastity Hernandez told the outlet.
