ATLANTA — A community is in shock after an Tennessee State player, and Atlanta native, suddenly collapsed during a football game Saturday.
Christion Abercrombie was injured on a routine play in Saturday's game against Vanderbilt University. Abercrombie was able to make his way to the sideline, where he complained to trainers about having a headache and collapsed soon after.
Close friends of the family say Abercrombie is making progress, but are asking for continued prayers.
"He’s making major strides and actually moving better than the doctors assumed," explained Carl Green. "Hopefully soon he’ll get changed from very critical to another state."
Green is currently the athletic director for Westlake High School, where Abercrombie played football before going to Tennessee State. Green, who was not the athletic director at the time, knows Abercrombie's family well and recalled him being an "overall great kid."
"Really great kid, laid-back, comes from a good family," Green said. "He just always wanted to work hard."
Green remembers getting the phone call about what happened, first, from Abercrombie's mother. Then the flood of posts on social media let him know something terrible had happened.
"I texted his mom last night to let her know she has my prayers," Green told 11Alive. "I’m just trying to get the Westlake athletic community behind them to have continued prayers for his recovery."
Photos: Tennessee State vs. Vanderbilt football
While coaches said there was nothing "dirty" about the hit Abercrombie sustained before he collapsed, Green said that's just the nature of a contact sport, like football.
"There are all kind of protocols in place to try to make sure that athletes don’t get injured, but again it’s one of those sports that you don’t know until you’re trying to investigate to see what happened," he explained.
But Abercrombie wasn't the only athlete to be injured on a grid iron over the weekend. A high school football player from Pike County is also in a coma in critical condition at a south metro hospital after suffering severe swelling on the brain. Green said, as an athletic director, that's why coaches stress to parents the importance of making sure their young athletes are in good physical health.
"That’s why we continuously talk about making sure kids have physicals, making sure they get checked, because so many freak injuries can happen. You can never be overcautious," Greens said. "You just hope and pray that everybody come out safe. That’s more important than wins and losses, that everybody come out safe."
Meanwhile, Green said the Westlake community will continue to pull for Abercrombie's recovery.
"Being that he is a fighter and he has everybody’s support I’m thinking he’ll be OK," Green said. "Everybody is rallying around him on social media, everybody is re-tweeting and tweeting their thoughts and prayers with him and making sure that he’s fine. Westlake community is a big community of support, and I believe they are rallying behind this young man to make sure he is fine."
