Sacramento City College football player Justin McAllister dies after conditioning drills
Athletes and coaches arrived in droves at the north end of Hughes Stadium at about 11 p.m. Monday to share stories, to exchange hugs, to say goodbye to a teammate, everyone awash in anguish.
They lit candles in a vigil, spelling out the initials of Justin McAllister and his Sacramento City College jersey No. 68. McAllister was a beloved big man with the smile to match who died earlier that evening at Sutter Medical Center after a workout, apparently from heart failure, several people close to the family told The Sacramento Bee.
There will be an autopsy, a family friend confirmed.
The 6-foot-7, 270-pound freshman offensive tackle struggled to regain his breath after a routine 20-minute conditioning session inside Hughes Stadium under the supervision of coaches and trainers. McAllister had passed a physical, a requirement to play high school or college sports, and he had not experienced any health issues, nor was he pushed beyond normal, his coaches and teammates said. McAllister went to the locker room to collect himself, and then went down. He could not be revived.
McAllister was loaded into the back of an ambulance after paramedics worked to revive him as stunned Panthers teammates watched in disbelief. A resident of West Sacramento and a three-sport star at Delta High School in Clarksburg, McAllister was 19.
“It was a normal conditioning day, like we do after every game, and then it became a horrible Monday,” Sac City quarterback and team leader Sean Nixon said. “We didn’t know what was going on, but we knew it was bad. We did a team prayer in the parking lot when the ambulance left, right over there (pointing). It makes no sense. It’s a scary reminder of how precious life is.”
Sac City head coach Dannie Walker and defensive coordinator John Herlihy invited players to come to Hughes Stadium to talk, to grieve, to be together. Several teammates and coaches spoke about McAllister, the applause after each speech reverberating off the stadium’s cinder-block walls.
“We opened the doors for our players because we need them as much as they need us,” Walker said. “Justin was a great young man, a big heart. His mother, Mary, kept telling us how he was a gentle giant at the hospital.”
Shortly before midnight, Walker spoke to his somber team during the vigil. Candles tall and short lit up the wall, flickering in the light breeze.
“I open my heart, a wounded heart,” the coach said. “The amount of support in such a short period of time is absolutely amazing, everyone being here. To see Justin’s mother in the hospital was just heartbreaking. She lost a child tonight. I lost a child because all of you guys are my kids. To see Justin’s mother go through this, a bad dream you don’t wake up from, it just hurts. No one plans for this. We know two things: We are born and we will die. How we live life in between is up to us, so love one another, and keep his parents and family in your thoughts.”
McAllister was a reserve lineman who saw his first action in the season opener at home against American River College. He was with Division II Western Oregon University in Monmouth last season and transferred to Sac City to be closer to home and family. His twin brother, Jack, is a student at Cal State Monterey Bay. He made the three-hour trip to the hospital.
Delta High football coach Tim Rapp has known McAllister and his twin since they were sixth-graders at Delta Elementary Charter School in Clarksburg. The third and final child is Gavin McAlister, a quarterback star for Rapp at Delta.
“I just saw Justin on Friday night in a pizza place in Clarksburg after our game,” Rapp said. “He was happy. He was ready for the game the next day in San Francisco. He was a big teddy bear, larger than life. I can’t comprehend this. It’s just so sad to see this.”
Those who knew McAllister said he wasn’t just a big guy in a jersey who blocked defenders — he was a person, a brother, a son, a teammate. Teammates who barely knew him said Monday they wished they had spent more time with him. Panthers who spoke at the vigil were Nixon, Farani Va’a, David Wood and Jabarii Pharms. Pharms led the team prayer after the ambulance left the campus.
“I pretty much saw Justin grow up,” said Stacy Breckenridge, a 1994 Delta High graduate who has taken photographs of the team for 15 years. Her daughter, Jacie, was a 2023 Delta graduate who filmed Delta games and does so now for Sac City. “He had that big infectious smile. Justin gave the biggest hugs. I’ll really miss those.”
Sports can help teams and communities heal, and Sac City players and coaches said they will dedicate the rest of their campaign in McAllister’s honor. The Panthers host Chabot College at 1 p.m. Saturday, though continuing to practice the rest of the week will not be easy, players said.
“We’re going to get back on the field because I’m sure that’s what he’d want us to do, and we’ll play hard in his honor,” said Nixon, the Panthers quarterback. “Justin was a good person, always positive, always with a big smile. You think of his family and how much they hurt, and all the people he knew and those who loved him.”
Rapp, the Delta High coach, said his team will also compete in honor of McAllister. The 4-0 Saints play at Biggs on Friday with McAllister’s brother leading the charge at quarterback.
“Justin’s mother hugged me at the hospital and said, ‘You’ve got to win this for Justin,’” Rapp said. “We’ll do our best. He’ll be with us.”
