The 17-year-old son of former NFL linebacker and Green Bay Packers Super Bowl champion Brady Poppinga died after suffering a severe asthma attack, according to reports.
Julius Poppinga, a two-way lineman for Westlake High School in California, had been hospitalized since the asthma attack last week. According to the Ventura County Star, he suffered a collapsed lung while in the hospital and never recovered.
Westlake Football confirmed Julius’ death on social media, including in a heartfelt Instagram post on Wednesday.
“The Westlake Football family wants to send our deepest condolences to the Poppinga Family. Julius was a beloved member of our team and will be greatly missed by the entire tribe. #OneTribe #WarriorStrong,” the post reads.
Julius Poppinga’s sister Jasmine responded to the message from the team in the comments section of the Instagram post.
“Thank you so much for your love and support. Julius loves all his teammates and coaches more than you guys know đź’™,” she wrote.
Westlake has a game against Thousand Oaks scheduled for Friday. The game will take place as scheduled, with Westlake head coach Mark Serve telling the Los Angeles Times that Brady Poppinga said his son would have wanted the team to play.
Brady Poppinga was a fourth-round pick of the Packers out of BYU in 2005. He spent six seasons in Green Bay, winning a Super Bowl in his final year, before one-year stops in St. Louis and Dallas.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Poppinga family and all of Julius’ teammates and friends.