Minnesota Lineman Hall Is Shot to Death

Brandon Hall, a 19-year-old redshirt freshman at Minnesota, was shot to death early Sunday, hours after playing in his first college game.

Hall, a reserve defensive lineman, died after a dispute between a group of players that included Hall and three other men near a downtown Minneapolis bar, police said.

“To the best of my knowledge, Brandon Hall was an innocent victim,” Minnesota Coach Glen Mason said.

The 6-foot-5, 270-pound Hall made one tackle in the Golden Gophers’ 42-0 season-opening victory over Southwest Texas State on Saturday night at the Metrodome.

About 2 a.m. Sunday, Hall was with some teammates about eight blocks northwest of the stadium when they were contacted by another player who claimed he was robbed by three men, police spokeswoman Cyndi Barrington said. The players found the men and confronted them.

As the players approached, the three men began walking away and got into a parked van, Barrington said. One of the men then got out of the van and walked toward the players.

“At that point, someone in the group said, ‘He’s got a gun! He’s got a gun!’ and they scattered,” Barrington said. “But the suspect was still able to take a shot.”

A handgun was recovered and the three men were arrested, but they had not yet been charged.

Mason canceled Sunday’s practice and said he wasn’t sure when the team would meet again. Athletic Director Joel Maturi said counselors would be available to the players.

“These are all things that none of us have been taught to deal with,” Maturi said.

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Tennessee linebacker Kevin Burnett probably will be sidelined the rest of the season after tearing a ligament in his left knee Saturday during the Volunteers’ 47-7 season-opening victory over Wyoming.

Coach Phillip Fulmer said that a precise diagnosis had not been made, but team doctors suspected a torn anterior cruciate ligament. An MRI was scheduled for today, and Fulmer said Burnett might have surgery within three weeks.

“That’s another tough loss to our football team,” Fulmer said.

The Volunteers lost another defensive starter two weeks ago when senior end Constantin Ritzmann tore the ACL in his left knee.

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North Carolina’s inexperienced defense got even thinner when starting end Eric Davis was lost for the season after tearing a ligament in his left knee.

The 6-3, 268-pound senior made his first start Saturday night in North Carolina’s 27-21 loss to Miami (Ohio) and had recovered a fumble in the first half.

Davis was injured midway through the third quarter when his left foot stuck in the soggy ground and his knee buckled as he was being blocked by two Miami players.

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Starting cornerback Toure Francis of Clemson probably will be sidelined the rest of the season because of a torn knee ligament.

He will undergo an MRI on Tuesday to determine the extent of the damage to his ACL.

Francis played 12 snaps against Georgia on Saturday night before injuring the knee.