Marvin Harrison Jr. sends condolences to teammate Carnell Tate after mother's death

Tragedy struck close to home for the Ohio State football program this summer as the mother of freshman wideout Carnell Tate, Ashley Griggs, was recently killed in a shooting. At Big Ten Media Days, teammate Marvin Harrison Jr. offered his condolences to Tate and marveled at his emotional and mental strength.

Without divulging much detail, Harrison Jr. explained that Tate has managed to find joy in football amid immense personal loss. He wondered how his teammate has managed to do it amid a life-altering tragedy.

“First I just want to send my condolences and prayers to his family. Carnell is a very strong individual,” Harrison Jr. said. “I don’t know how he’s even been able to come to practice and come in with a smile on his face, have a good time. He’s going through so much right now that I couldn’t even imagine. I have much respect for him and how he’s managed and handled his business.”

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day, when discussing contemporary issues for college athletes, noted guns as one of them and brought up the recent tragedy reaching all too close to home for Tate and the Buckeyes.

“There are shootings constantly across the country and in Columbus. We just lost Carnell’s mom. So it’s just something that I talk to our guys about all the time,” Day said at Big Ten Media Days, joining Harrison Jr. in offering condolences to Tate.

The news of Griggs’ death was reported by ABC 7 Chicago in mid-July. Griggs was one of several victims of a shooting in the Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago, but was the lone fatality. The shooting was apparently a drive by.

“The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Sunday that Griggs was the woman killed in a shooting in the Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago early Sunday morning, according to multiple reports,” Dan Hope of Eleven Warriors wrote shortly after the shooting. “Per ABC 7 Chicago, four other people were also injured in the shooting, though all of them are in fair condition. A suspect has not yet been identified, but one of the victims told police that the shooter was in a car when they opened fire.”

And whether Tate has been smiling, sad, or somewhere in between, Harrison and his teammates want to do whatever they possibly came to comfort and console him.

“But he’s been great and we’re just trying to do the best we can to be there for him,” Harrison Jr. said.