Tyler Scott Haun Hilinski (May 26, 1996 – January 16, 2018) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

who played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...

. He died by suicide following his junior year. An autopsy revealed that he had stage one

chronic traumatic encephalopathy Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets wor ...

(CTE).

Early years

Hilinski was born on May 26, 1996, He was the middle of three children born to Kym and Mark Hilinski. Hilinski and his older brother Kelly grew up playing baseball, but both made the switch to

before Kelly's freshman year of high school. Hilinski attended Notre Dame High School in

Sherman Oaks, California Sherman Oaks (founded in 1927) is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles, California within the San Fernando Valley region. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density ...

, before he transferred to

Upland High School Upland High School is a four-year public high school located in the city of Upland, California. The school was established in 1955 as part of the Chaffey Joint Union High School District, and since 1988 it has been a member of the Upland Unifie ...

Upland, California Upland is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States, on the border with neighboring Los Angeles County. The municipality is located at an elevation of . As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population ...

, prior to his junior year. He played as a

on the

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

team. In his junior year, Hilinski passed for 3,067

yards The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly ...

and 36

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

College career

Hilinski enrolled at

and took a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

year in 2015. He became the backup quarterback for the

Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the sport, athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic pr ...

in 2016. As a sophomore, Hilinski came off the bench to relieve starting quarterback

Luke Falk Lucas Andrew Falk (born December 28, 1994) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback. He played college football at Washington State Cougars football, Washington State, and was selected by the Tennessee Titans in ...

against the

Boise State Broncos The Boise State Broncos are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Boise State University, located in Boise, Idaho. The Broncos compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Mount ...

, overcoming a 21-point deficit to win the game in triple

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

. He also relieved Falk against the

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

in a loss. Due to an injury to Falk, Hilinski received his first start for the Cougars in the 2017 Holiday Bowl, completing 39 of 50 passes for 272 yards with two touchdowns. He finished the 2017 season completing 130 of 179 passes attempted for 1,176 yards, with seven touchdowns and seven

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s. He was expected to succeed Falk as the Cougars' starting quarterback in 2018.

Personal life

Tyler's older brother, Kelly, played as a quarterback for Notre Dame High School,

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Riverside City College Riverside City College (RCC) is a public community college in Riverside, California. The college is part of the Riverside Community College District, as well as the larger California Community Colleges System. History RCC first opened in 1916 at ...

and

Weber State University Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy and earned its current name in 1991. As of fall 2023, the student population reached 30,536 students, cons ...

. His younger brother, Ryan, is a quarterback for the Northwestern Wildcats.

Death

On January 16 2018, after not showing up for practice earlier that day, Hilinski was found dead in his apartment with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was 21 years old. According to police, a rifle, which belonged to one of his teammates, was recovered next to him along with a suicide note. The death was officially ruled a suicide. A memorial service was held for Hilinski on January 27, at

Damien High School Damien High School is an all-boys Roman Catholic high school in La Verne, in the U.S. state of California, named for Saint Damien of Molokai. It is located in and operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, part of the tri-school ...

La Verne, California La Verne is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 31,334 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The area was home to Native Americans. The European history of the area dates back to the ...

; approximately 800 people attended. On June 26, 2018, doctors revealed that Hilinski was found to have Stage 1

, which caused him to have the 'brain of a 65-year-old'.

Hilinski's Hope Foundation

Following Hilinski's death, his family started the foundation "Hilinski's Hope", which aims to raise awareness of mental health issues. The charity supports wellness for student athletes and focuses on challenging any stigma that surrounds mental health by providing education and resources.

References

External links

Holiday Bowl (2017) Highlights
via

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilinski, Tyler 1996 births 2018 suicides 2018 deaths American football quarterbacks Players of American football from Los Angeles County, California Washington State Cougars football players Sportspeople from Claremont, California Suicides by firearm in Washington (state) Players of American football with chronic traumatic encephalopathy College students who died by suicide Notre Dame High School (Sherman Oaks, California) alumni