COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio State University’s football stadium went silent Saturday as an announcer called out the name of a missing football player and a police poster seeking information on his disappearance appeared on a scoreboard.
Twenty-two-year-old Kosta Karageorge was the last of 24 OSU players recognized before the Buckeyes’ game against rival Michigan. His family says he was last seen Wednesday.
The players recognized were mostly seniors making their final appearance for the Buckeyes at the team’s last home game of the season.
The announcer said the entire university community was concerned about Karageorge and hoping for his safe return. Polite applause from among the 105,000 fans broke the silence at the end of the recognition.
His mother, Susan Karageorge, told authorities he has had several concussions and a few spells of being extremely confused, according to a police report. She said at about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday he texted a message that cited the concussions and said, “I am sorry if I am an embarrassment.”
The player from Columbus was last seen at his apartment at around 2 a.m. Wednesday. Team spokesman Jerry Emig said Karageorge missed practice Wednesday and Thursday, which his family says was uncharacteristic.
Karageorge’s parents filed a missing-person’s report Wednesday night, listing him as white, 6-foot-5, 285 pounds, bearded and bald.
The team’s physician has said he cannot comment on the medical care of student athletes, but officials there are confident in their medical procedures and policies for returning athletes to participation in sports following injuries or illnesses.
The player’s sister, Sophia Karageorge, told The Columbus Dispatch that he apparently was upset, and roommates said he went for a walk, dressed in black from his hat to his boots.
“We’re very concerned that he’s not himself and that he maybe doesn’t know what’s going on,” she told the newspaper.
The former Buckeyes wrestler joined the football team as a walk-on this season.