On Thursday, the family of the late Jake Ehlinger released a statement saying that the former Texas football player died in May due to an accidental overdose of what is believed to have been Xanax laced with Fentanyl.

The Austin police said they responded to a call at 12:18 p.m. May 6 and found Ehlinger in the 1200 block of West 22nd Street.

The Westlake graduate was only 20.

“Today we are sad to share that we have learned that Jake was a victim of an accidental overdose of what was believed to be Xanax laced with toxic drugs including deadly Fentanyl,” the Ehlinger family statement said. “The spread of counterfeit pills is an ongoing and significant issue throughout our country, particularly in schools, colleges, and universities.”

“As our family continues to process Jake’s death, we felt it was important to share these details with the hope that Jake will not have died in vain. We pray that sharing Jake’s story will help shed light on this problem and prevent other families from also tragically losing a loved one.”

“Our hearts are broken, and we are still grieving over the loss of our son and brother, Jake,” the statement said. “We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support received since his untimely passing in May. We sincerely thank everyone who has reached out.”

Ehlinger’s brother, Sam Ehlinger, attended the funeral and then went back to Indianapolis. Sam is a Texas alumnus and a quarterback for the Colts.

Jena Ehlinger, Sam’s and Jake’s mother, has not spoken publicly.

“I think, as men, there’s an idea that you have to be tough, and instead of correctly addressing, identifying and releasing those emotions, you bottle them up and push them down, and it’s almost like it’s a bomb-building up inside of you,” Sam said of his brother’s death.

Texas linebacker Jake Ehlinger was found dead on Thursday, according to police in Austin, Texas.

Police said that they received a call at 12:18 p.m. and found Ehlinger in the 1200 block of West 22nd Street. The area is where the residential area is and nearby the Texas campus. Police have not released a cause of death and have said that Ehlinger’s death is not suspicious.

The linebacker’s death was confirmed by the university’s Twitter post.

“Our hearts are truly broken, and we are just devastated today to learn of the passing of our Longhorn family member Jake Ehlinger,” Texas AD Chris Del Conte said in a statement. “Jake was an amazing young man from an extraordinary family with such a bright future ahead of him. It’s just such a tragedy that we are all really struggling with. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his loved ones and friends, especially the Ehlinger family and our entire football program. Jake’s family Sam, Jena, and Morgen are such vital parts of our Longhorn family, and we will be here to support them in any and every way we can during this very difficult time.”

“While the sense of pain and loss is deep, our focus at this time is on providing support to Jake’s family, our football student-athletes, coaches and staff, and everyone so greatly impacted by this in our athletics department. We have resources in place and grief counseling available as we help support everyone in our program. With that said, we sincerely hope that everyone will respect their privacy as we deal with this devastating news.”

Jake was the younger brother of former Longhorns quarterback Sam Ehlinger. Sam was selected by the Colts in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft on Saturday. The sudden death is another tragedy for the Ehlinger family, who lost Sam and Jake’s father due to a heart attack in 2013 during a triathlon in San Francisco.

Our thoughts are with the Ehlinger family during this difficult time.