WR Teddy Craft... RIP
c/p from Yahoo... rip
Ga. Southern star receiver dies following motorcycle crash
By RUSS BYNUM, Associated Press Writer
July 6, 2006
STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) -- Georgia Southern wide receiver Teddy Craft died Thursday after suffering critical injuries in a motorcycle crash two days earlier.
Craft, 22, died at Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah after a collision with another motorcyclist threw him from his Suzuki GSX motorcycle just outside the Statesboro city limits.
"For an individual who was just so vibrant as Teddy was to have this happen, it just sort of shocks everyone," Georgia Southern athletic director Sam Baker said.
Some of Craft's teammates were with his family in Savannah when he died, and they quickly spread the word by calling the rest of the team from the hospital, Baker said. The university planned to arrange a bus trip for teammates to attend Craft's funeral Monday in Hartwell, Ga.
Craft, who led the Eagles in receiving yards and touchdowns last season, was a starter since 2003.
"Even if you couldn't name the other players on offense, if somebody said Teddy Craft, you knew what position he played and who he was," Patrick Whiteledge, a 23-year-old pre-med student, said. "You knew that if they were going to pass, it was going to him and he'd make the play."
Craft was a second team All-Southern Conference pick the past two years. He led the Eagles with 319 yards and five TD catches in 2005, and also caught a school-record 82-yard touchdown pass in a 49-7 win at Elon.
The crash occurred Tuesday night as Craft and five other motorcyclists cruised through a residential neighborhood. Baker said Craft had been wearing a helmet.
Craft collided with another rider who was attempting a right turn, was thrown from his motorcycle and struck a guide wire to a light poll, said Georgia State Patrol Senior Trooper J.B. Scott. There was no indication any of the motorcyclists had been drinking alcohol, Scott said.
Craft was taken to East Georgia Regional Medical Center, then airlifted to Memorial hospital in Savannah.
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