DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Notre Dame recruit dies from balcony fall.

CINCINNATI -- A 17-year-old Notre Dame football recruit who was killed in a fall from a fifth-floor hotel balcony during his senior-year spring break in Florida was "drunk and belligerent," authorities said Saturday.

Matt James died Friday around 6:30 p.m. ET at the Days Inn Motel in Panama City Beach. He was dead when police arrived.

"It appears to be a tragic accident," Panama City Beach police Maj. David Humphreys said.

James' former teammates at St. Xavier High School gathered for a private prayer service in the school's chapel on Saturday. The All-State lineman had been the first top signing for new Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly.




Police did not use James' name during a news conference. Instead, they referred to him as a 17-year-old from Ohio who had signed with Notre Dame.

"Witnesses and friends indicate he had become drunk and belligerent," Humphreys said. "He had leaned over the balcony rail, was shaking his finger at the people in the next room over. He fell over."

Humphreys said the railing at the hotel met the standards for proper height. He said police would be interested in pursuing charges if it was learned who provided the underage teen with alcohol.

The 6-foot-6, 290-pound offensive lineman was an all-city and all-state football player. He also was on St. Xavier's varsity basketball team.

Students at St. Xavier gathered on the football field Friday night to remember James following reports of his death, school spokesman Mark Motz said.

Motz said the impromptu vigil was organized as word of James' death spread through social-networking sites such as Facebook.

"When one of their own is in trouble, they band together," Motz said.

About 40 students from St. Xavier and a half-dozen parents were on the trip to Florida, police said.

James was the second St. Xavier athlete to die during the school year. Junior wrestler Kevin Le was struck by a car and killed in September. The football team -- including James -- wore his initials on their helmet for the next home football game.

Grief counselors will be available when classes resume on April 12 after spring break.





"The Notre Dame football program is in a state of disbelief and incredible sadness with the news of this tragic event," Kelly said in a statement.

Kelly and his staff recruited James to go to Cincinnati, where Kelly coached the past three years. James followed him to Notre Dame when Kelly was hired in December, choosing the Fighting Irish over Ohio State.

"Matt was an extremely talented person who was very bright and possessed a great dry sense of humor," Kelly said. "He could not wait to join the Notre Dame family."

James' family received the news of his death at a gathering to celebrate the 50th birthday of an uncle, according to Dan Rudolph, who attended the gathering and whose son, Kyle, is a Notre Dame tight end.

"His mom and dad were here when they got the call," Dan Rudolph told the Chicago Tribune. "The whole James family was here. I can't believe that happened."

Gary Massa said his son, Luke, was James' friend, teammate and a fellow Notre Dame recruit.

"One of the visions I have in my mind is after football games at St. X he was like the Pied Piper, all the little kids, everybody's little brothers and sisters would follow him around. He was just a gentle giant, that's the best way to describe him," he said.

James isn't the first spring breaker to die from a balcony fall this year. Brandon Kohler, a 19-year-old from Winder, Ga., died March 24 when he fell from a fifth-floor balcony at the Holiday Terrace Motel in Panama City Beach.

Funeral arrangements were pending. Motz said the school would take its cues from James' family, noting that St. Xavier is on spring break until April 12


http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5053059

Sad story.. It will be interesting to hear the details.. Sounds like he had too much to drink and had some beer muscels going on.. Hopefully I am wrong because in retorspect whatever the reason he was going after the people in the other room, I am sure it was not worth his life..

RIP..

To anyone familiar with the going ons of high schoolers in Panama City, this isn't a shocker. I remember my brother telling stories of Eugene Clifford jumping around balconies high as a kite down there.

Regardless, RIP.

Don't know many details - probably what we all know...............sad.

And my son wonders why I tell him to be smart on his spring breaks.........

If it feels like the earth is lighter, it's because we lost a moron. I hate to put it so cold and callously but this death is the result of stupidity.

One thing I should point out is that this could happen to anyone, of any age. It's not just the teenager aspect, there are many grown adults who go way past there limit all the time but without the same dramatic, life-ending, effect.

I have spent some time in Panama City for Spring Break and it is a crazy place. I seem to remember public service announcements playing on the television every thirty minutes or so where the sheriff would be featured talking about the dangers of climbing up balconies.

We still saw plenty of drunken kids doing it----but the authorities take a lot of time trying to discourage such activities.

Its just part of the territory down there. I am so glad to have made it out of that 15-25 age group where a lot of guys engage in some seriously high-risk behavior. I did some stupid stuff, and probably still o some stupid things. But I was lucky enough to live through that period of my life.

These days I have settled down a lot. Mainly because most of my crazier friends are either dead, or in ugly situations that help me keep my distance.

Getting drunk and climbing balconies is pretty stupid. Seeing as this dude was so huge, I really don't understand why he would try climbing up balconies. Sure, littler dudes might climb up and down the side of the building. But 6 foot 6 and well over 250---what are you thinking?!?!?

Rock-climbing and things like that are not exactly conducive to offensive lineman.

Hey. I'm just saying what a lot of people are thinking and is true. I'm tired of these stupid, senseless deaths we're seeing in the news with some of these athletes. I'm just discussing what comes to mind on a message board, not waving anything over the grave...

There's things that come to mind and things you discuss, common sense should dictate the latter.

I just hate when everyone wants to blame someone when you see tragedies like this. People want to blame the parents, others want to blame panama city for this kid's death. This guy was about to go to notre dame this fall.He was a few months from technically considered an adult. This stuff could've happened anywhere. The only person to blame is the kid for leaning over a balcony with blood level of .30. Sad but true.

I don't buy into that method of thinking. Anything is up for discussion. Quit trying to censor life because you'll find that to be much too tall of a task. I see this as over-emphasized political correctness. Wasted potential and an untimely death was brought on by stupidity. To not acknowledge this would be blind as it's the elephant in the room.

I know the guy had plenty of redemptive qualities and was mostly a great kid in fact. Bright, had a good dry sense of humor, talented player. He had an amazing potential future ahead of him (beyond football considering the educational value) and frittered his existence away because of complete and utter stupidity. I'm not going to give someone who does that a cookie. I'm going to sadly say the truth. It's just too bad.

And if you're still in a tizzy over my forward communication and candidness. It's the German in me. We tend to be unapologetically brash.