
Karmelo Overton collapsed after a kickoff in the second quarter, but was communicative before exiting on a cart.
A scary situation unfolded in the second quarter of Friday night’s matchup between the Memphis Tigers and Rice Owls.
Immediately after Memphis captured a 7-6 lead with 6:27 remaining in the second quarter, the Tigers kicked off to the Owls. Memphis inside linebacker Karmelo Overton was taken down on the field by a pair of Rice special teamers. Overton got up on his own power and jogged toward the sideline. In the middle of his jog, he suddenly collapsed without breaking his fall.
Trainers and medical staff rushed to the scene to tend to Overton. The inside linebacker was then lifted, placed on the injury cart, and rushed to a local hospital after a lengthy delay — laying on the field for approximately 10 minutes.
“The health and safety of our players is my No. 1 concern,” Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield said while tearing up. “It’s like my family. When stuff like that happens, it hurts you. There goes one of my boys, down on the ground. So you sit there and you think, ‘I hope he’s okay.’ Part of me is like maybe I want to go to the hospital with him, jump in the back of an ambulance like all of us would for somebody we care about.”
While Overton was being carted off the field, several members of the linebacker room approached to wish him well on his way to the hospital. Those teammates included inside linebacker Chandler Martin and outside linebacker Bryce Edmondson. Martin confirmed he saw movement in Overton’s extremities which was a positive update to relay to the team.
“Karmelo’s my guy. It was tough to see one of my brothers go down like that,” Martin said. “I just told him to stay strong. He was moving his hands and fingers — he’s okay. But it was tough to see one of my guys go down like that. Me and Karmelo basically do everything together. That’s my brother. So I basically told the guys, ‘Make sure you do it for him, keep the juice up, don’t let this bring us down, and we gotta finish for him.’”
Regrouping the team to play football after a devastating moment isn’t an easy task. But witnessing Overton communicate made a tough situation easier for Silverfield and his staff. Memphis eventually took the field after the cart exited, with Overton’s status weighing heavy on the entire roster’s mind for the remainder of the 27-20 victory over Rice.
“I told our guys, ‘Let’s play football for one of our brothers,’” Silverfield said. “He was able to talk. He was able to communicate. There were positives there, so let’s go play football and go play for him. It weighs in the back of your mind. But you have to have focus and play football for the rest of the night. I know Karmelo would say, ‘Get your butt back out there, lift your chin up, and go play some ball.’”
Silverfield provided the latest update at his postgame press conference, stating that tests were being run at the hospital.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with him,” Silverfield said. “We’re running some tests. He’s at a local hospital. But I do ask Tiger fans to keep him in your thoughts and prayers and keep our fingers crossed for a healthy recovery.”