A football player and wrestler at Woodland High School, Zachary Robinson was hoping to be a starter at offensive tackle for his senior year.
“He was a contender for a starting spot,” Drake Browning told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Browning, a senior, was one of six teammates who signed to play college football on Wednesday. But a day of celebration also included grieving for Robinson, a teammate who died from injuries he sustained in a wreck.
Investigators believe Robinson was driving a 2003 Pontiac Grand Am Tuesday morning when he passed a vehicle on Jodeco Road, near Acadian Drive, Lt. Joey Smith said. Robinson was attempting to pass another vehicle when he collided with a Mitsubishi box truck traveling in the opposite direction around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, Smith said.
Robinson was flown to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he died shortly before 9 p.m. Tuesday, according to police.
Robinson was a junior at Woodland, where he also wrestled, Browning said. After signing to play with Bluefield (Va.) College, Browning joined other teammates for a trip to the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
“He would have been there,” Browning said Wednesday.
Word spread quickly late Tuesday that Robinson had died, and before school started Wednesday, a prayer circle was held on the school’s football field, Browning said. Students gathered later in the day for more prayer and hugs, he said.
Grief counselors will remain at the school as needed for teachers and staff, a spokesman for Henry County schools said in an email to the AJC.
“Our condolences to the family, and our thoughts are with them and the entire Woodland High School community during this sad time,” the district said.
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