Andrew Quarless, Green Bay Packers TE, Mourns Infant Daughter Who Died At Birth

Andrew Quarless, who plays tight end for the Green Bay Packers, missed the first two days of practice at training camp because of the death of his infant daughter who died at birth, USA Today is reporting.

Quarless was absent from the Packers’ training camp, which began last week. On Thursday, Packers coach Mike McCarthy was evasive about the reason for Andrew’s absence, saying only that he’d been excused due to a “positive personal situation.” On Friday, McCarthy still didn’t provide any details, but he let on that Quarless absence was due to a “very difficult family situation.”

At a Monday press conference, Quarless revealed the reason why he’d been away from training camp: his infant daughter, Arielle, died at birth last Wednesday.

“It’s the saddest day of my life. I thank this team for the type of support they have given me to help me get through this. Just very thankful for these guys. It’s really a family in here. It’s really a family. I’m looking forward my first day getting back out there today. It felt real good. It felt real good just to get out there, catch some passes, be able to run around a little bit, kind of get back to your old self and get back into things.”

Also on Monday, Quarless posted a heartbreaking photo on Instagram, showing a photo from his infant daughter’s sonogram and a pair of baby shoes.

“Arielle Cecilia Quarless was born July 29th 2015 at 4:16pm 7 pounds 13.7 oz 21 inches.. I want to thank all my family, friends, teammates, coaches/staff, and fans for being such a support to me and my family.. My life will never be the same but with everybody’s help we have been able to celebrate and honor my daughters life and this means the world to me I promise.. We were planning to have a baby instead we had an angel #GodsGifts”

Quarless’ teammates on the Packers are coming to the aid of their friend in need, according to CBS Sports. Cornerback Micah Hyde said that Quarless is like a brother to him and that he and his teammates will be doing whatever they can for Andrew.

“Whatever he needs we will help him out with. We’re a family in here. I know a lot of teams say that, but we are. We are with each other all the time to hang out… We hang out with each other. We are definitely like a family here.”

As of this post, Andrew Quarless is back at full practice with his team.

[Image courtesy of: Getty Images/Kevin C. Cox]