Clark Yarbrough, a college football player from North Texas, died at age 21 after suddenly collapsing, Ouachita Baptist University (OBU) announced Sunday. No cause of death has been announced.
Today the Ouachita community mourns the loss of senior Clark Yarbrough, who died this morning following a sudden collapse. Join us in praying for his family and friends. More information about campus gatherings following this tragedy will be released soon. pic.twitter.com/ePaiYphwN0
— Ouachita Baptist University (@Ouachita) September 4, 2022
Before heading to college, Yarbrough played football at Sachse High School in North Texas.
Sachse High School Principal Shae Creel offered his condolences.
“In this business, you see a lot of things. You share the wins, the losses, the laughs, the cries…and so on. Nothing prepares you for the loss of life. We lost a good one. Rest easy big man!” Creel said on Twitter.
Yarbrough was a defensive lineman at OBU, a Division II program in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. He played in Thursday’s 42-32 win at Oklahoma Baptist, tallying two tackles.
His mother, Mattie Yarbrough, told WFAA from her home in Rowlett that she had just seen her son when she traveled to Oklahoma to watch him play on Thursday night.
“Had a big hug, took pictures, took videos – I loved on him as I always do after every game,” she said. “His mama is his biggest fan.”
“He was my buddy. He was my baby,” she added.
Yarbrough was a sports management major on track to graduate from OBU in May 2023. He hoped to become a graduate assistant with OBU’s football team.
He was an All-Great American Conference honorable mention last season after totaling 27 tackles, including 1.5 for loss, while playing all 11 games for the team.
He also played eight games as a freshman in 2019, while the 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19.
Ouachita Baptist is scheduled to play its second game of the season on Saturday against Southern Nazarene.
The university will share more information this week on funeral arrangements for Yarbrough and other campus gatherings to celebrate his life.
It is a tragedy for sure. Pray for the family. The cause of death has not been annouced. His body should have been well conditioned for the stresses of football as a senior. This unexpected tradgedy has repeated itself with significantly increased frequency in the last year or so since the covid vaccines came out. Without an autopsy who is to say.
I pray for your family. Someone so young, it just doesn’t seem right