“He was a tremendous young man and even better teammate throughout his time at UAlbany,” the collegiate football team expressed in a statement.”The UAlbany football program was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former student-athlete Amitral “AJ” Simon this morning. He was a tremendous young man and even better teammate throughout his time at UAlbany,” the statement read.He was remembered as “a role model both on and off the field” who served “as a pillar to this program over the last two years.”
“He will be profoundly missed,” the team wrote at the end of their statement.Taylor O’Connor, the team’s director of digital content and communications shared that Simon would “text me for cool edits after the season ended and he started prepping for the NFL Draft.”
“[He] was always so kind & appreciative of everything I sent him. I joked with him ‘Don’t forget about me when you make it to the NFL!’ He laughed and said ‘Never!’ ” recalled O’ Connor on X.
