{"id":9946,"date":"2026-04-11T10:51:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T10:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/?p=9946"},"modified":"2026-04-11T10:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T10:51:11","slug":"former-wisconsin-college-football-player-jack-pugh-has-passed-away-at-the-age-of-24-the-university-confirmed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/?p=9946","title":{"rendered":"Former Wisconsin college football player Jack Pugh has passed away at the age of 24, the university confirmed\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Pugh, who played as a tight end for the Badgers from 2021 to 2023, stepped away from football due to mental health challenges, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The cause of his death has not been disclosed.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, March 31, Wisconsin football honored him with a message on X, expressing deep sorrow over his passing. The program described Pugh as a bright and uplifting presence, noting that he brought authenticity, cared deeply about others, and was cherished by teammates and staff. They also highlighted that he graduated from the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison in 2025 and would always be remembered.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-4\">\n<div id=\"cmfrtzn.com_responsive_2\" data-google-query-id=\"\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/23293390090\/cmfrtzn.com\/cmfrtzn.com_responsive_2_0__container__\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Pugh was considered a four-star recruit, despite only playing football during his final two years of high school. He had drawn strong interest from several major programs, including Michigan, Penn State, Michigan State, Maryland, and Minnesota.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-6\">\n<div id=\"cmfrtzn.com_responsive_3\" data-google-query-id=\"\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/23293390090\/cmfrtzn.com\/cmfrtzn.com_responsive_3_0__container__\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In 2023, Pugh announced on Instagram that he was retiring from the sport. At the time, he explained that while his physical condition wasn\u2019t perfect, his decision was mainly driven by struggles with mental health. He shared that he had dealt with long-term depression and substance abuse, and wanted to focus on improving his life and finding happiness.<\/p>\n<p>He emphasized that football itself was not the cause of his struggles, but that other aspects of his life had distracted him from addressing his mental well-being, leading to a difficult period.<\/p>\n<p>Pugh expressed gratitude to his coaches, teammates, and supporters, saying he would always cherish the memories he made.<\/p>\n<p>Following the news, his former teammate, New York Jets running back Braelon Allen, paid tribute on social media and encouraged others to prioritize their mental health, writing, \u201cProtect your mental.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5322\" src=\"https:\/\/cmfrtzn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/jack-pugh-1-7e601615d3d440b9b389771fa47bfb22.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pugh, who played as a tight end for the Badgers from 2021 to 2023, stepped away from football due to mental health challenges, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9946"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9947,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9946\/revisions\/9947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}