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A Chadron State College freshman football player died Thursday after a team practice, the college's athletics spokesman said.

Eric Goll, 20, a defensive lineman from Haines City, Florida, was taken from the northwest Nebraska college's practice field to Chadron Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 12:30 p.m., the spokesman said.

The cause of Goll's death was not clear and was under investigation by Chadron police. The department's chief, Tim Lordino, referred questions to Dawes County Attorney Vance Haug, who could not be reached Thursday night.

It was not clear precisely when Goll was taken from the field. Football team testing was underway from 10 a.m. to 11:30 or 11:45 a.m., the spokesman said.

The temperature at Chadron's airport was 75 degrees at 10 a.m. and 78 degrees at 11 a.m., according to the National Weather Service.

"Eric was one of the happiest people I've ever met," head football coach Jay Long wrote in a statement. "Our hearts are broken for Eric's family. They have our condolences and our prayers."

The college had not released a time or location of a funeral or memorial service late Thursday.