Rest in Peace : Ereck Plancher

During my High School years at Lely High School, one of my best friends was on the football team. At lunch, we would joke about the coach and how much of a hardass he was. We would talk about the best players on the team and how some were going to big schools. We would make plans to go to the game and we would see cheerleaders walking around spreading the spirit. We would bleed orange and black.

Football was one of the things that you always remember about High School.

Today, one of our best was taken from us. Our RB1 is gone. Our Posta Boy is gone.

I’m sure some of you may have heard the news about Ereck Plancher, a football player who collapsed at UCF during conditioning. He was not just a football player. He was a friend to many, a wonderful boyfriend and a role model to his little brother.

Nothing can describe the shock that came upon me when I heard what had happened. A good friend of mine and I were out to lunch when his phone rang. His father broke the news to him and I could see the look of agony come across his face. Ereck was much more then a friend to him.

I sat at the table in complete disbelief, tears escaping as I tried to understand what had just happened. How could such a great young man die doing the thing he loved most? Playing the game he loved to play. I’m sure he wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Ereck, it was a pleasure to have played in gym class with you. It was a pleasure to be around your humble attitude and your contagious kindness. It was truly an honor to have been in your presence.



Rest in Peace. You will forever be a Trojan and I look forward to the time I see you again. You will live on in the heart of every single person you represented when you put on a jersey.