Eau Claire Memorial football players honored Adam Massman on Thursday night with helmets marked with his number 4, a moment of silence before kickoff and a donation drive for his family. The tribute came as the 17-year-old from Alma Center was being remembered far beyond his own school after dying last weekend, days after he was injured during a football game.
Massman was a quarterback and defensive back for Lincoln Junior-Senior High School, and the response at Eau Claire Memorial showed how quickly a loss like that can reach beyond one roster. Robin Schultz said the goal was to recognize the impact Massman made and not forget him or his family, while the Old Abe Football Club collected donations during the game and said every dollar would go directly to the Massman family.
The timing mattered. Thursday night’s game against Chippewa Falls gave players and fans a chance to respond in real time, and the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association also posted on X that it had asked for a moment of silence before every high school football game played in Wisconsin that weekend. That turned a local tribute into something wider, even though Massman played for the Hornets and not for Eau Claire Memorial.
That gap was part of what made the night stand out. Chase Schultz said football is a family and a strong community, not just a game, and Jack Modl called high school football a once-in-a-lifetime experience while describing the loss as tragic for the family and the team. Their words captured the same idea the helmets and the silence did: that the sport can separate teams on a field, but it can also pull them together when one of its own is gone. What no one has yet said publicly is what specific injury led to Massman’s death, and that detail remains unanswered as the weekend tribute moves through Wisconsin football.
