Tyler Scott Haun Hilinski (May 26, 1996 – January 16, 2018) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

who played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

. He died by suicide following his junior year. An autopsy revealed that he had stage one

chronic traumatic encephalopathy Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse o ...

(CTE).

Early life and high school career

Hilinski was born on May 26, 1996, in

Claremont, California Claremont () is a suburban city on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles. It is in the Pomona Valley, at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As of the 2010 census it had a popul ...

. He was the middle of three children born to Kym and Mark Hilinski. Hilinski and his older brother Kelly grew up playing baseball, but both made the switch to

before Kelly's freshman year of high school. Hilinski attended Notre Dame High School in

Sherman Oaks, California Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than ...

, before he transferred to

Upland High School Upland High School is a four-year public high school located in the city of Upland, California. The school was established in 1955 as part of the Chaffey Joint Union High School District, and since 1988 it has been a member of the Upland Unified ...

Upland, California Upland is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States on the border with neighboring Los Angeles County. The municipality is located at an elevation of 1,242 feet (379 m). As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 79,040 ...

, prior to his junior year. He played as a

on the

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

team. In his junior year, Hilinski passed for 3,067

yards The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.914 ...

and 36

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

College career

Hilinski enrolled at

and took a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

year in 2015. He became the backup quarterback for the

Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic program co ...

in 2016. As a sophomore, Hilinski came off the bench to relieve starting quarterback

Luke Falk Lucas Andrew Falk (born December 28, 1994) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He played college football at Washington State, and was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He has played fo ...

against the

Boise State Broncos The Boise State Broncos are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Boise State University, located in Boise, Idaho. The Broncos compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Mou ...

, overcoming a 21-point deficit to win the game in triple

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society), ...

. He also relieved Falk against the

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

in a loss. Due to an injury to Falk, Hilinski received his first start for the Cougars in the 2017 Holiday Bowl, completing 39 of 50 passes for 272 yards with two touchdowns. He finished the 2017 season completing 130 of 179 passes attempted for 1,176 yards, with seven touchdowns and seven

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

s. He was expected to succeed Falk as the Cougars' starting quarterback in 2018.

Personal life

Tyler's older brother, Kelly, played as a quarterback for Notre Dame High School,

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Riverside City College Riverside City College (RCC) is a public community college in Riverside, California. The college is part of the Riverside Community College District, as well as the larger California Community Colleges System. History RCC first opened in 1916 at ...

and

Weber State University Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. History Weber State University was founded ...

. His younger brother,

Ryan Ryan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) *Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Australia * Division of Ryan, an elector ...

, is a quarterback for the Northwestern Wildcats.

Death

On January 16, 2018, after not showing up for practice earlier that day, Hilinski was found dead in his apartment with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was 21 years old. According to police, a rifle, which belonged to one of his teammates, was recovered next to him along with a suicide note. The death was officially ruled a suicide. A memorial service was held for Hilinski on January 27, at

Damien High School Damien High School is an all-boys Roman Catholic high school in La Verne, in the U.S. state of California named for Saint Damien of Molokai. The school had its first graduating class in 1963. Each of Damien's freshmen classes draws from an avera ...

La Verne, California La Verne is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 31,063 at the 2010 census, down from 31,638 at the 2000 census. History The European history of the area dates back to the 1830s when Ygnacio Palomares ...

; approximately 800 people attended. On June 26, 2018, doctors revealed that Hilinski was found to have Stage 1

, which caused him to have the 'brain of a 65-year-old'. Following Hilinski's death, his family started the foundation "Hilinski's Hope", which aims to raise awareness of mental health issues.

References

External links

Holiday Bowl (2017) Highlights
via

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilinski, Tyler 1996 births 2018 deaths American football quarterbacks Players of American football from Los Angeles County, California Washington State Cougars football players Sportspeople from Claremont, California Suicides by firearm in Washington (state) 2018 suicides Players of American football with chronic traumatic encephalopathy College students who died by suicide Notre Dame High School (Sherman Oaks, California) alumni