NCAAF: Purdue QB Aidan O’Connell away from team after brother’s death

Date:

Share post:


Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell is away from the team and with family in Illinois after his older brother, Sean, died late last week.

The Boilermakers believe O’Connell will rejoin the team in time to play in Saturday’s Big Ten title game against Michigan in Indianapolis.

O’Connell completed 18 of 29 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns in this past Saturday’s 30-16 win over Indiana in Bloomington to help clinch the Big Ten West division title.

He was seen crying into a towel in the final minutes of the game and didn’t speak to reporters afterward.

But Sunday, he released a statement through the Purdue football Twitter account to announce the death of his brother. The cause of death wasn’t revealed.

“My family and I would like to express our gratitude for the love and support we have received over the past few days,” O’Connell said in the statement. “We are deeply saddened to share of the passing of my oldest brother, Sean.

“Sean was not only one of Purdue football’s biggest fans, but he was a better son, brother and friend. He lit up any room he walked in and all that knew him testify to his contagious joy.”

Boilermakers coach Jeff Brohm remains amazed over O’Connell’s efforts and leadership on Saturday.

“He played his heart out for his teammates and gave us a great effort,” Brohm said Monday of the performance. “Of course, he’s got things he has to deal with this week, but we’ll be there to support him and whenever we get him back to work, we look forward to that.”

Purdue (8-4, 6-3 Big Ten) has received solid play from O’Connell, who has passed for 3,124 yards, 22 touchdowns and 11 interceptions this season.

Overall, he has passed for 8,853 yards, 65 touchdowns and 28 interceptions in his career. The yardage ranks sixth in Purdue history and the touchdowns passes are fifth, but he stands just six scoring tosses shy of second-place Mark Herrmann (1977-80).

His career completion rate of 66.6 percent ranks first in program history.

–Field Level Media

spot_img

Related articles

NFL: Chiefs: Speedster WR worthy of early draft pick

Xavier Worthy might not win a weigh-in, but the first-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs was highly...

NFL: Reports: Bills, Patriots bidding on 49ers WR Deebo Samuel

Trade offers for wide receiver Deebo Samuel could fetch the San Francisco 49ers a first-round pick in the...

NFL: Super Bowl holiday? Roger Goodell talks 18-game season, Presidents’ Day title game

Eliminating one week of preseason games, adding a week to the 17-game regular season and bumping the Super...

NFL: Bears’ Caleb Williams breaks Caitlin Clark’s merch sales record

No. 1 pick Caleb Williams is breaking records before setting foot in Chicago. The Bears selected the quarterback first...

FREE

Get the most important breaking news and analyses for Free.

Thank you for subscribing

Something went wrong.