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Mother of star football player speaks out after his sudden death

Brock Haman's mother wonders if her son's love for football is part of the reason he's no longer here.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - We are learning more about the former football star who was found dead in an apparent drug overdose last Friday in Scottsdale. 12 News exclusively spoke with Brock Haman's mother about what may have lead to his sudden death.

"His first word was 'ball,'" said Jill Triggs Hernandez, Brock Haman's mother. "Brock was infatuated with balls and sports from the very moment I can remember him."

One sport stuck out to him in particular: football. And Brock Haman was good.

"He was just a natural athlete," said his mom.

When Brock was a teen, Jill and her family moved to Scottsdale so Brock could play for one of the best programs in the state, Saguaro High School.

"He did have a number of concussions over the years. I think at least four and different injuries," said Triggs Hernandez.

Brock didn't let that stop him. He came up with a plan to become a professional football player.

"He was very in control of that, of what he wanted to do," his mom said.

Brock went on to play for SEC powerhouse Arkansas, but after one year of injuries, he transferred to Arizona State. There, he got hurt again and after just one season in Tempe, it was time for him to hang up the cleats. His mom says it wasn't easy.

"You have so much to offer the world just because you're a wonderful human being, not because you're a great football player," his mom recalled telling him.

Jill believes that was the beginning of the end for her son, although she didn't know it at the time.

"He was such a strong person with such a strong personality that I don't think we realized the detriment until close to his death," she said.

Brock was found dead inside a Scottsdale apartment Friday. Autopsy results haven't been released but police say it was an apparent drug overdose. He was just 24 years old.

"There's nothing that could ever prepare a parent for that," said Triggs Hernandez.

Jill doesn't know when Brock started using drugs but says he'd been prescribed painkillers for years because of football injuries. His mother now wonders if her son's greatest love is part of the reason he's no longer here.

"I just do want Brock not to have died in vain," she said.

Jill is now starting a foundation in her late son's honor hoping to help parents of student-athletes look out for warning signs of drug use.

"He was so funny," Triggs Hernandez said. "And I'm gonna miss that. No parent should have to miss that."

Another young woman, 25-year-old Veronica Birk, also died in that Scottsdale apartment. Brock's mother told 12 News she still has a lot of questions about their deaths and is waiting for the medical examiner to finish up the autopsies.

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