Two words came up repeatedly when Jack Fields Jr.’s former Boise State football teammates reacted Friday to his death: “mental health.”
Fields died Thursday night in Georgia. He attacked a sheriff’s deputy with a knife while resisting arrest in a hotel lobby, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the deputy shot and killed him. The deputy was taken to the hospital to receive treatment for his injuries.
The 25-year-old Fields played running back for the Broncos from 2012 to 2015, overlapping with players still on the roster.
“A great teammate. I think a guy that struggled with mental health a little bit,” senior quarterback Brett Rypien told reporters after Boise State’s game Friday night at New Mexico.