Football player with ‘infectious’ smile dies on trip with teammates, GA reports say
Friends of Antwon Carter said to know him was to love him.
Now, they’re mourning the Heard County High School linebacker after a tragic accident during a trip with his teammates to Alabama, Georgia reports say.
“He had the most contagious smile in the world,” the football program said in a statement posted on Twitter. “He was a friend to so many and a brother to everyone who shared a locker room with him.”
It happened at about 7 p.m. Monday, July 24, at the Little River Canyon National Preserve in Fort Payne, Alabama, a National Park Service official told McClatchy News.
Carter and a few of his teammates were on a last-minute trip to wrap up their summer, head football coach Shane Lasseter told the Times-Georgian.
The teens were jumping off a rock, Lasseter said, according to the newspaper, and Carter got caught in a current running behind the rock.
Lasseter said fellow players weren’t able to get to Carter in time.
NPS officials responded with help from Fort Payne Fire Rescue and other local agencies, the spokesperson said. Additional information wasn’t available.
Nestled in the Southern Appalachians, the Little River Canyon National Preserve boasts a sprawling 15,288 acres and was established to protect the area’s natural landscapes, according to the park’s website.
A seasonal message posted on its main page urges visitors to “be cautious of your surroundings, don’t cliff jump, don’t stray off of the main trails, and don’t get too close to Little River Falls or the canyon rim.”
Carter was just a week shy of starting his senior year Aug. 3, according to a school calendar. He was being eyed as a college football prospect, although it’s not clear where he planned to commit, WAGA reported.
Heard County Schools Superintendent Rodney Kay described the football star as “a light that shone brightly on the campus of Heard County High School.”
“We are requesting thoughts and prayers for the family, our football team, our high school, and our entire community as we kick off another school year in a state of mourning,” Kay said in a statement.
Heard County is about 60 miles southwest of downtown Atlanta.
This story was originally published July 26, 2023 at 10:41 AM with the headline "Football player with ‘infectious’ smile dies on trip with teammates, GA reports say."