Missouri State Football Player Dead At 21 From Accidental Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound

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Todric McGee, a former starting safety for the Missouri State Bears, died Saturday. Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

Former friends, teammates and family members are mourning the death of Missouri State football player Todric McGee, who died Saturday from an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound, Springfield authorities told NBC affiliate KYTV on Monday.

McGee, a starting safety, was 21 years old and preparing to graduate in December.

The university’s athletics department announced in a statement Saturday that McGee sustained his injuries Friday “at his local residence.” Police found McGee there after responding to a wellness check, officers told The Springfield News-Leader.

The athlete, who was set to enter his fifth season with the team, was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

“He wasn’t depressed, there’s no mental issues or anything like that that would make this happen, it’s just a tragic accident, and I just want people to know that you know he’s a good kid,” his mother, Stephanie Pope, told KYTV.

“He was a lighthearted person,” Zaire Adkins, one of McGee’s best friends and a former high school football teammate, told the News-Leader. “He was always joking around and explaining things in the funniest way. His smile was contagious and infectious.”

“He was always smiling and laughing,” he added. “None of us want to believe it. “I know it’s going to bring us all back together, and it’s going to make us stronger. But for how this happened and why this happened at this time of his life … it just sucks.”

Members of the school’s athletics community joined McGee’s former teammates for a commemorative balloon release Monday at the university stadium. His sister Tahlia Pope told KYTV that her brother “was always there, and he was just everything.”

“He was a sibling I needed,” she continued.

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McGee (right), trying to stop Daniel Hishaw Jr. of the Kansas Jayhawks in September 2023. Ed Zurga/Getty Images

McGee’s mother suffered a brain aneurysm last year, which required surgery and months of rehabilitation. The football player launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the costs.

“He was a 20, 21-year-old kid who saw his mom in a different light,” Steve Martin, his former coach at Wichita Northwest High in Kansas, told the News-Leader. “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.”

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