Kostadina Alexander Karageorge, a walk-on Ohio State defensive lineman, was found dead Sunday afternoon just blocks from his apartment. He was last seen four days before when his roommates said he went for a walk at 2 a.m. on Wednesday. Karageorge died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in apparent suicide. There’s speculation that his disappearance and death was linked to his concussion history. The university is deeply saddened by the loss of this student-athlete.
“Sorry if I am an embarrassment, but these concussions have my head all [expletive] up.”
Dear Kosta,
Those may have been your last words but they will not be your last act. You are not an embarrassment, you are a hero. Because you were brave enough to send that text and alert the world to the truth of sports related brain injuries, we can change.
I know it’s too late now, but I understand the pain you were going through. Concussions are a serious matter. You needed help but you didn’t know how to ask for it. From what I hear you were big, strong and full of enthusiasm. You wanted to hide your pain so that you could keep playing the sports you loved, so you would be the Kosta so many people loved and respected. Yet, you sacrificed your life for the sports you loved.
Your build was intimidating and, as I imagine, protected you from a lot of things. It may even have defined you in that you were a well known wrestler and a member of one of the best football teams in the country. I didn’t show my solidarity by painting your #53 on my face during the game just because you were on the football team. We didn’t have a vigil just because you wore Ohio State gear or may have sat next to us in class. I prayed, this campus prayed, the nation prayed because you were a 22-year old college senior in the prime of his life whose pain was so evident in that text that it simply broke our collective hearts.
Now, all of us who lifted you and your family up in thought and prayer last week, must advocate for stronger regulations during games and practices, must pay attention to the signs of brain injuries during and long after, must encourage our athletes to acknowledge pain and seek help. If we don’t learn this horrible lesson and act on it, Kosta, WE should be embarrassed.
This is my first semester at The Ohio State University and I hope to work with student athletes as an athletic director some day. The memory of you, Kosta, will live with me always and impact my work for years to come. For that, I am grateful. How firm thy friendship, indeed.