Alabama A&M linebacker Medrick Burnett Jr’s GoFundMe page was flooded with donations after the university issued a false statement announcing the athlete’s death.

Update on Alabama A&M football player Medrick Burnett Jr. The originalversion of this story has since been retracted by the university’s athletic department. The school sent out a second statement that the initial news of Burnett’s death was inaccurate.

Alabama A&M retracted an earlier announcement that redshirt freshman linebacker Medrick Burnett Jr. had died. The school said it was initially alerted

"We express our immediate regret for disseminating false information," the university's athletic department said after issuing a statement that Medrick Burnett Jr. had died.

Alabama A&M linebacker Medrick Burnett Jr. remains hospitalized with a head injury suffered in October, the school said hours after announcing that he had died.

The now-deleted statement from Alabama A&M athletic director Dr Paul A. Bryant read: “Today, our Bulldog family is heartbroken by the loss of Medrick Burnett Jr. “Medrick was more than an exceptional athlete;