A top Georgia football player was injured in a shooting during a neighborhood event over Labor Day weekend on Sunday, leaving his football future in jeopardy.
As reported by the Macon Telegraph, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and a variety of other Atlanta-area sources, Warner Robbins (Ga.) Northside High standout Austin Roberts, a preseason All-State selection by multiple publications, was struck in the back on Sunday after gunshots were fired at a gathering in his neighborhood.
Roberts' coach, Northside head football coach Kevin Kinsler, told the Telegraph that his star defensive end was "alive, and he's gonna be OK," but could provide few other details about the 275-pounder's condition after a stray bullet reportedly struck him.
"Somebody started shooting, and everyone scattered. [Roberts] just happened to get hit in the back," Kinsler told the newspaper. "It could have been a lot worse."
While the injuries Roberts suffered could have indeed been more drastic than they were, they still could jeopardize both his scholastic and collegiate future. The teen was still searching for a first significant Division I offer, but the breakout senior campaign that he and his coaches expected could have launched the large and mobile defensive lineman toward a major scholarship.
Instead, one stroke of poor luck may jeopardize his future in the game altogether, even though the defensive end was in no way the cause of his own misfortune.
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