AUSTIN, Texas – Texas defensive end Cole Pittman was found
dead Monday at the scene of a one-car accident.
|
Memorial fund
established
|
|
AUSTIN, Texas -- The University of Texas has established a
scholarship in the name of Texas defensive end Cole Pittman, who
died Monday in a car accident.
The UT men's and women's athletic programs contributed the first
$25,000 to the fund, the university said Tuesday.
The university has scheduled a campus memorial service Thursday.
Funeral services for Cole are to be held Wednesday afternoon in
Shreveport. Six of Pittman's teammates will be pallbearers.
Defensive end Cory Redding said the Longhorns want to wear
"CP" patches on their helmets next season to honor their
teammate. "Because he was more than just a number, he was a
person," Redding said.
"He would call his parents from the bus on the way to games on
his cell phone to tell them he loved them," Redding said.
"Cole's a guy who was full of spirit and always smiling. He
loved being a football player at the University of Texas," said
coach Mack Brown.
"The guys don't know what happened, they just know they lost a
good friend. You don't just move on. Some guys were closer to him,
and it's wrong to tell them to just move on," Brown said.
– The Associated Press
|
State troopers discovered Pittman's pickup truck on the side of
U.S. Route 79 nearly Easterly, about 100 miles northeast of Austin.
State troopers found Pittman's pickup truck on the other side of
a creek along U.S. 79. The truck left the road and down an embankment before landing on
the other side of the creek.
Pittman, a sophomore who had played in 23 games in his two
seasons at Texas, was returning to school from his family's home in
Shreveport, La.
Longhorns coach Mack Brown told the team Monday afternoon at a
meeting that had been scheduled to prepare for spring practice. The
workouts were supposed to begin Tuesday, but have been postponed.
No new date has been given.
"This is the hardest thing I have faced in 29 years of
coaching," Brown said. "We've lost a member of our family and it
really hurts. Every member of our team is like a son and you can
never prepare yourself for something like this. I don't even know
how to begin."
The 6-foot-5, 265-pound Pittman played defensive tackle as a
freshman, then moved to end this past season. He started the first
three games in 2000. He had 30 tackles, two sacks, five tackles for
loss, five quarterback pressures and caused one fumble in his
career.
Pittman enrolled at Texas in the spring of 1999 after helping
Evangel High win three consecutive Louisiana 1A state titles and to
a state-record 45 straight wins. He was a first-team all-state
performer and was named second-team All-USA by USA Today.
"This is absolutely devastating news," men's athletic director
DeLoss Dodds said. "Our entire athletics program is grieving this
loss."
Before receiving the devastating news, Brown met with the media
to discuss his plans for the spring and he immediately put to rest
any speculation about his quarterback plans: Chris Simms is a firm
No. 1 and Major Applewhite is the backup.
"They will be competing, but there's no question Chris is the
starter," Brown said. "We don't feel the need to alternate guys
like we did the first of last year."
 Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
| |
|
