Texas Football: Jake Ehlinger tragically passes, Longhorn family mourns

At the young age of 20, former Texas football walk-on linebacker and the 5-foot-11 and 245 pound sophomore Jake Ehlinger tragically passed away in his hometown of Austin, TX. The Texas family mourns on May 6 as a well-known former walk-on is lost at way too early of age this week.

According to a report from the Austin American-Statesman on the afternoon of May 6, the brother of former Texas star senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger, Jake, was found dead off the campus of the University of Texas-Austin. There is no reported known cause of death, but this piece mentioned that police do not suspect foul play.

Ehlinger walked on to the Longhorns football team two years ago and hadn’t seen any game action outside of spring football games since his time on the Forty Acres began. But he was a two-time honoree of the Big 12 Commissioners Honor Roll.

Just like his brother Sam, Jake was a product of Westlake High School in the Longhorns’ backyard in Austin. During his final season in high school at Westlake, Ehlinger was one of the team’s leading tacklers and most productive players overall. Back in 2017 with Westlake, he registered 104 tackles, seven tackles for loss, four sacks, two pass breakups, and four forced fumbles.

Texas football family mourns the passing of LB Jake Ehlinger

Those around the Longhorns programs, and even some noted rivals, gave their thoughts and prayers on social media after the passing of Ehlinger on May 6. From current Longhorns, to those that used to face this team year in and year out on the gridiron like quarterback Baker Mayfield (who is an Austin native) gave their heartfelt thoughts after this tragedy.

It was just last week that the Ehlinger family was celebrating Sam getting picked up by the Indianapolis Colts on day three of the 2021 NFL Draft. Colts owner Jim Irsay even gave his thoughts and prayers on social media.

New head coach Steve Sarkisian stated that this was a”tragedy beyond measure” following the passing of Jake. He was set to enter his junior campaign and third year with the Longhorns come this fall.