Buffalo has first official practice since Solomon Jackson's death
The University of Buffalo started spring practice on Tuesday. It's was the team's first practice since the death of defensive end Solomon Jackson.
Jackson, set to be a junior in 2016, had what's been termed a medical emergency in an offseason conditioning workout in February. He died a week later at the age of 20.
“We know we’re playing for a bigger purpose than ourselves this year,” Buffalo linebacker Jarrett Franklin told the Buffalo News. “Honestly, we’re trying to commit this whole season to ‘Solo.’ You can actually tell that a lot of guys are waking up, excited that we get the opportunity to play football at a D-I level.
“Because not a lot of people can say that and Solo can’t say that right now."
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Franklin said not a day goes by that the team doesn't think of Solomon.
Jackson's cause of death hasn't been released and, according to the news, the university hasn't commented further on the event.
Buffalo finished the 2015 season at 5-7 in coach Lance Leipold's first year with the
“We’ll always have Solomon in our minds,” Leipold said. “Our thoughts and prayers continue for his family. But we also want to make sure we go out and honor him the right way and play the way he played for us.
“It’s one thing you don’t want anybody to go through in a college football program – any football program. It’s a day-to-day thing. I don’t think there’s any of us who don’t think about him daily or wake up in the middle of the night. I think we all need to go through our own grieving process. But we’re doing the best we can to look out for the 90-plus players who are here right now and everybody affiliated with our program.”
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
