LUBBOCK, Texas -- Former Texas Tech defensive tackle Stoney Garland, who was paralyzed in a car accident more than a decade ago, has died. He was 33.
Garland died at his home in Plains on Wednesday, the school's athletic department said in a statement Thursday.
In 1997, the 6-foot-6, 285-pound Garland transferred to Texas Tech from Navarro Junior College and played one year under coach Spike Dykes.
In November 1997, Garland was riding with three others in the front seat of a pickup truck that rear-ended a car near campus. Garland wasn't wearing a safety belt and his head hit the windshield.
Garland spent the past 10½ years in a wheelchair with movement limited to his head, neck and left arm.
Since 1998, proceeds from an annual golf tournament fundraiser have gone to the Stoney Garland Fund to help defray his medical costs. The tournament is Saturday in Lubbock, and all the proceeds will go to Garland's family.