In the final year of his life, Missouri State football player Todric McGee spent precious time caring for his beloved mother, Stephanie.
McGee died on Saturday, April 19, after sustaining injuries at his Springfield, Missouri home. According to authorities, McGee died from a “possible accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound.” He was 21.
Nearly a year ago, McGee’s mother, Stephanie Pope, suffered a brain aneurysm which required surgery and months of rehab, according to the Springfield News-Leader. McGee helped his mother organize a GoFundMe to assist in covering the family’s medical costs, which raised nearly $5,000.
“He was a 20-, 21-year-old kid who saw his mom in a different light,” Steve Martin, McGee’s head football coach at Wichita Northwest High School, said in a News-Leader story published on Monday, April 21. “To see him be selfless and come back and want to be around mom and help her out pays tribute to the type of home he grew up in. They were tight-knit. Todric didn’t lose any of that, and he just gained more appreciation for all the things Steph did for him.”
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Days after the death of her son, Pope gave insight into McGee’s mental state before his sudden and untimely death.
“He wasn’t depressed, there’s no mental issues or anything like that that would make this happen,,” she told KYTV-TV Springfield in a story published on Monday. “It’s just a tragic accident, and I just want people to know that, you know, he’s a good kid.”
Thalia Pope, McGee’s older sister who played basketball at the University of Houston and the University of Texas at Arlington, recalled how her brother would bring the family together during tough times.
“He was always there, and he was just everything,” she told KYTV. “He was a sibling I needed.”
McGee’s former high school teammate, Zaire Adkins, remembered how close he was with his mother — and how that extended to his friend group.
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“Since I met him, it was always about him and his mom,” Adkins told the News-Leader. “She was always making sure he was good and that we were all straight.”
Former Missouri State head football coach Bobby Petrino remembered McGee, a safety, as a player who “wanted to hit everything and everybody.”
“We never had any issues with him at all,” Petrino told the News-Leader. “He was always rock solid. That’s what made him a special player and a special person.”
McGee was scheduled to graduate from Missouri State in December with a psychology degree and a minor in exercise science.
