ATLANTA — It's a solemn day in Roswell as students, staff and teammates mourn a high school star quarterback.
Just days before the holiday season Robbie Roper died Wednesday, his family said. The Roswell High School ball player was "fighting for his life" Tuesday following reported complications during a procedure.
It's been "a tough two days" for his high school football coach Chris Prewett, who remembers Roper as "a great young man."
"He didn't meet a stranger. He was funny, he was energetic. He was everything you wanted to see as a student-athlete," Prewett said.
His coach said Roper was a kid who would "brighten a room" the second he walked in and had dreams to play on the collegiate level.
"Did everything the right way. Did everything he was supposed to, was on the precipice of graduating, getting to go play college football. It's just sad to see it taken away so quickly," Prewett said.
Roper received offers at University of Massachusetts, Morehead State, Morgan State and Western Carolina, and recently gained interest from the University of Florida. According to Prewett, the young man was a true "competitor."
Prewett said he has a close connection with all of his players, but as a football coach, there's a certain bond that develops with the quarterback.
"Just trying to remember positive things and remember the person he was," he said.
As for Roper's teammates, Prewett said they're grieving and trying to reminisce on the moments they once shared with him — stories of bus rides, the locker room and team comradery.
"One of the things we preach is a brotherhood amongst our team and that's what I told them last night. The best thing you can do, is lean on that," he said.
Prewett said he knows Roper's family is in pain and that his presence will be sorely missed.
"I think he lived, he would coin it 'his best life,'" Prewett said.
The family said funeral arrangements have not been announced at this time.
Photos: Robbie Roper
