Miami (The U) DT Shot And Killed

[Wireman]

What are you trying to say???

 

That being a Christian is the most important thing.

[gametime]

That being a Christian is the most important thing.

I made an edit. After reading your first post, I saw where you were going...

[Wireman]

I made an edit. After reading your first post, I saw where you were going...

 

Cool. I hope that his family can gain some comfort in that. Its just so sad to see a 22-year old kid die.

[RockPride]

God Bless young man..RIP.

[gametime]

Cool. I hope that his family can gain some comfort in that. Its just so sad to see a 22-year old kid die.

Projected 2nd day draft pick as well. I hate to say it, but my gut instinct was to wonder what his role was in the brawl. With FIU so close, and considered a school of the REALLY bad seeds, it crossed my mind...

[Wireman]

Projected 2nd day draft pick as well. I hate to say it, but my gut instinct was to wonder what his role was in the brawl. With FIU so close, and considered a school of the REALLY bad seeds, it crossed my mind...

 

I kind of wondered if there was something like that going on, as well. I know one thing, I visited Miami and I just didn't care for it at all. I drove through about 100 blocks of very rough territory and downtown wasn't much better. What was this guy's role in the brawl?

[gametime]

What was this guy's role in the brawl?

From all I can find, he had no role in what went wrong. It sucks that it's part of how he'll be remembered...

[Qryche11]

He was probably a victim of retaliation....wrong place at wrong time...

[strike-3]

Hate to say it, but im not surprised this happened to a Miami player.

 

I'm not sure that playing for the Hurricanes had anything to do with the shooting. Unfortunatley this type of thing could happen to anybody. Remember Trent DiGiuro?

[gametime]

The circumstances around Pata's death were not immediately clear, and Miami-Dade police did not say who made the 911 call after the shooting.

 

The 6-foot-4, 280-pound lineman was in his fourth year with the Hurricanes. He appeared in 41 games, making 23 starts, and was expected to be selected in next spring's NFL Draft.

 

Word spread quickly around campus, and grief counselors were quickly summoned to work with Pata's teammates, who left the university's athlethic complex shortly before midnight. A team meeting to discuss plans for a memorial was scheduled for Wednesday.

 

"Pata was a guidance counselor in a way of our football team," Miami quarterback Kirby Freeman told the Associated Press. "He wasn't the captain of the team, yet people would look for Pata for direction on the way things are going. He was definitely a great leader."

 

Annette Ponnock, Miami's student body president, said Pata -- a fierce player on the field and a somewhat soft-spoken one off it -- was well known and popular on campus.

 

"Everyone is just more surprised than anything else," Ponnock said. "He's such a personality on campus. It was just really, really shocking to have such a loss. ... He was a big guy so it was kind of hard to miss him. He just had a presence about him."

http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/9785872/1

[TheDeuce]

Terrible news...

[cvillecat]

Very sad story. Prayers go out to the family and friends of this young man.

[pigman]

Isn't it amazing how we stereotype. I was in agreement with one of the posts, wasn't surprised it happened to a Miami player, then you read what a good kid he was. Very sad day for the family,team, and university to lose a quality person.

[EJHS Fan #98]

My prayers go out to him and his family most of all. I would also like to send out prayers to Pata's friends, the university, and his teammates.

[NEERFAN]

Most tragic part of a horrible season for the Canes, very sad.