A 17-year-old high school football player in Wisconsin has died from injuries sustained during a game. Adam Massman, a rising senior at Alma Center Lincoln High School, was a quarterback and defensive back who also played baseball and basketball.

Massman was injured during a game on Thursday night and received immediate medical attention from on-site EMTs before being transported to a hospital. The specific nature of his injuries was not disclosed, but his mother, Brianne Massman, told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that the family was informed of "helmet-to-helmet contact" during the incident. "I mean, no one would ever think something that severe would really happen," she stated. "We're just completely devastated."

Massman was an active member of the school community. His mother is an elementary school counselor, and other relatives work as teachers and serve on the school board. The Alma Center-Humbird-Merrillan School District superintendent, Drew Semingson, acknowledged the profound impact of the loss on the school family.

"This loss touches our Lincoln family in many ways," Semingson wrote in an open letter. "Adam's family has deep connections throughout our schools, including his mother, Mrs. Brianne Massman, our elementary school counselor; a sibling at the Jr High; his uncle and aunt, Mr. Jake Prindle and Mrs. Nicki Prindle, who are teachers at Lincoln Elementary; his uncle Mr. Sam Prindle, who serves on the Lincoln School Board; along with other relatives on staff and friends and family throughout the student body."

The district made counselors available to students at the beginning of the school year. Friends honored Massman by painting his parking space with the phrase "LLA," an acronym for "Long Live Adam."

Massman was described as someone who "making friends everywhere he went." His obituary noted his love for sports, stating, "Playing sports with his friends was one of his favorite things — throwing touchdown passes, landing strikes, running in relays … you name it, he was there." Beyond athletics, Massman was an animal lover and had experience as a cattle showman, which was recognized by the Jackson County Fair in a Facebook statement expressing condolences to his family and friends.

"Our home will never be the same," the obituary read. "Our hearts are here but they are broken. We'll remember Adam and love him, but our hearts will ache because he's not here. And yet, somehow, our hearts will also remain full because we did have him for 17 wonderful and perfect years."