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LSU coach Brian Kelly denied severing contact with ex-player Greg Brooks Jr. and his family as the former Tiger team captain battled brain cancer and the effects of an emergency surgery. At his signing day press conference, the LSU coach called the claims made by the Brooks family “factually incorrect”.
“We had somebody from my staff that was there virtually every single day,” Kelly said on Wednesday. “We love Greg. We love him for the person that he is, for the competitor that he is and the battler that he is and can only wish him continued progress as he goes through an incredibly difficult time.”
Kelly’s statement comes fewer than 24 hours after Brooks’ family told Good Morning America they haven’t heard from anyone on the Tigers’ coaching staff since October 2023. Brooks sued the university and a Louisiana hospital for negligence in their treatment of a career-ending brain tumor.
“My son almost lost his life, coach. Where were you?” Brooks’ father Greg Brooks Sr. asked on GMA. “Forget about football. Pick up the phone and say you love the kid, man.”
Kelly said the elder Brooks’ words “struck a nerve” with him.
“It hit my heart,” Kelly said. “Because that’s not why I’m in this business. I’ve been in it for our players, will always be in it for our players. It rattled me that somebody could possibly be so factually incorrect in stating that I was not part of Greg Brooks Jr.’s care and support. The support was the entire university, the entire community. I needed to make sure that record was clear.”
Brooks Jr.’s lawsuit claims he passed out during a team practice, then vomited minutes later in front of his coaches and athletic trainers. It also alleges an LSU athletic trainer told Brooks Jr. he had vertigo and cleared him to return…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/lsu-coach-brian-kelly-denies-severing-contact-with-former-player-greg-brooks-jr-amid-cancer-battle-recovery/
Author : Cameron Salerno
Publish date : 2025-02-05 20:38:00
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