Arena League football player dies at game

WICHITA, Kan., July 20 (UPI) -- Linebacker Julian Yearwood of the Bakersfield Blitz, an Arena Football League 2 player, died Saturday night after collapsing during a game against Wichita.

Yearwood collapsed while sitting on the bench in the first quarter. After numerous resuscitation attempts, he was pronounced dead at Via Christi St. Francis Hospital.

"He came out of the game and over to the sideline and said he wasn't well," Bakersfield Coach James Fuller told the Wichita Eagle.

"When he came off the field, I said, 'Good job,' and he just didn't seem like himself," teammate Ryan Sloth told the paper. "He's usually pretty upbeat. I turned away to watch the play, and all of a sudden he just collapsed, fell down on the floor."

AFL Commissioner David Baker, in consultation with the league's Executive Director, Jay Marcus, postponed the game indefinitely.