Why would anyone make fun of and crack jokes over the death of a human being. Some of you need to take a close look at your life and think about why you do the things that you do.

Thank you Bako ChatRooms; I think the insensitivity that's evident in situations like this is a testament to the depravity of mankind and how rapid the rate we continue to fall. You can see why there's mass murders like Colorado, Columbine, 9/11, etc. when people don't have an ounce of humanity in them. I think if you're making insensitive statements like some found on stories like this, you need immediate psychological attention. Psychopaths have no sympathy for others. 

I agree, Bako ChatRooms. 

Bako, Thats why they write the things they do. They don't care. They don't care about them selfes or what they write about. That in it self is very sad. I mean not to care about ones life or the Family they are attacking? How sad is that?

In this day and age what else would you expect on an open forum?  That is of course until it's someone close to them...

19faye62 Humanity is a brutal violent species. And left in a state of nature men will die at the hands of other men at a rate of about 50%. 

But as the Moral Philosopher Peter Singer has pointed out in his book "The Expanding Circle"  Our ability to empathize with others is expanding and growing stronger, not weaker.  We are now expanding our empathetic sense to even include animals and discussing the rights of conscious animals.  Spain for instance past a law granting greater apes the rights of individuals, the same as human rights.

Harvard Psychology Professor Steven Pinker has written extensively about the declining rate of violence.  Modern states experience deaths at the hands of another human at a rate of about 1% and this is including all the deaths from WWII and other wars of the 20th century.

Rates of violence have been declining steadily throughout history and at an increased rate since the age of enlightenment.  There was once a time when public acts of cruelty were common forms of entertainment, such as the act of cat burning, wherein a cat would be thrown into a sack and burned, while people laughed outloud at the cats dying shreeks of pain.  These days such things are un thinkable by the majority of people and understood as morally wrong.

People are becoming less violent, not more violent.  We are not falling rapidly, rather we are climing rapidly out of the deprevity we were in the past.

Why Not?

Godspeed this young man. I have lost friends to depression and suicide. If you know someone is depressed, do your best to see they get help. Talk to them. Sometimes only one world from someone who cares can make the difference. All respect to family and friends. Sending prayers for strength.

@facebook-100002968276653 We're sorry for your loss but thank you for sharing with us on CNN.com.

Ride a bike fast and often you will never be depressed, hungry yes, depressed no.

I repeat: CNN needs moderators or disable these boards altogether. No one foresaw the Internet representing the decline of civilized discourse and empathy. The teenage morons and lifeless boneheads should not be allowed to comment on stories like this (i.e., examples of human despair that the "news" has no ability to offer a perspective on). 

I strongly second that. I like these boards and the ability to express opinions and hear other peoples points of view. HOWEVER, it has become so tedious to sift thru all the garbage comments by bored losers who will post anything to get a little attention.

I totally agree...people can be so cruel for no reason at all....it's just sickening. 

Extra thumbs up.

@kamerra Yes, death is inevitable, but emotional pain to the point of feeling hopeless and helpless are not.  I feel sorrow for people who feel there is no hope, and I feel sorrow for the people who love them and question themselves as to whether or not they could have done more. 

I also felt sorrow on reading your insensitive comment.

I agree with you, Krilt. The internet has opened up the world to us, which is good, but then there's a lack of humanity that comes with it, because people can throw opinions around anonymously. If everyone were required to provide their real name and an image of themselves( impossible, I know), there would be a drastic change. 

Please Ban Krilt. I completely disagree with his attacks on trolls. 

Note: That is the problem, who decides what is civilized. If I was in charge, I would have deleted your comment Krilt for being someone who supports censorship and is against freedom and wants dictatorships....and I find that offensive. I bet you support Nazis and Hitler too. Comment Fascist!!!

This is the reason why some websites are requiring facebook logins, and other social media logins. People are not as willing to post slanderous and racist info when their name and personal info is attached to it.

Actually, there are moderators on occasion. During certain times, like the Aurora massacre. I saw two of the trolls comparing "banning" stories yesterday on another story.  They always come back, though. What can you do? I don't know that the boards should be disabled, however how do you differentiate between what is allowable and what isn't? All you have to do to remove a comment you don't like is "report abuse" - another feature often abused by trolls.

cnn does have a way of moderating boards.  On hot topic issues, there IS NO comments section.  Just a video.  Please tell me this isn't the first time you're noticing that.

He was my age and attended USC while I was there (2 years he was there). I'm sorry to hear this. I could not imagine ever reaching this point. But you never know what someone has been through unless you have walked through their shoes and have those experiences and feelings. RIP 

Thank you for your comment, Phillip Banks .

and if he had clinical depression simmering under the surface, bad experiences can really take a toll. I am sure this hard for you to digest. It is hard for me when I lose a classmate and as I get older it is happening more and more. 

I didn't even know who he was, but this is a terrible, terrible tragedy.  I cannot imagine what pain he must have been suffering to do something so final and so devastating.  My heart goes out to everyone who loved him.

"I didn't even know who he was"

That may have been his problem. So much potential, but he's been held back by injury, and has not been the star I'm sure everyone in his community thought he'd be. It sounds like an extreme reaction, but we don't know his mental state. 

I see the haters come out even in a time of pain for a family. The devil never rests.

Some of the comments here remind me that message boards serve little purpose, other than give those without a conscience the opportunity to post comments that hurt others...

This is why athletes need a firm career path besides sports. RIP

@ threestarsdo...ummm, try $600,000, thats the minimum you can make for being on the sidelines for the NFL

 Untrue, a college graduate with NFL experience if even minimal will easily make at the very minimum $40K a year. 

A permanent solution to a temporary problem is never the answer. I feel for his family.

To live the american dream you have to be asleep.
Sometimes people wake up from the dream and get rather upset by reality

It usually isn't some 'thing' that leads a person to suicide. The injury and difficult recovery may have been a trigger, but it's always more complicated than that. 
All we know is that Mr Murdock's world was so dark that he couldn't see out to the other side. We can, because we know that he was a young man with a future, but none of us were living inside of his personal perception.

 You are so correct.

Could every one pray for this guy it is important ,take a few minutes and pray with your heart,our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive house who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory for ever and ever amen,,,,,,,hail mar full of grace the lord is with thee blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus,holy Mary mother of god pray for us simmers now and at the hour of our death amen

Poor baby.  RIP.  My heart aches for his mother and father.

O.J. did it.

Really classy...  

People who make stupid remarks or try to be funny in these serious and always painful stories are lacking happiness in their life.  By printing cruel comments is a way for them to try and spread the lack of happiness that they don't have or a purpose in their life that they lack.

Just want to say to all the bad people out ther I hope you read this ,the guy who died I hope god receives him I think he was a human being,and there are a lot of good people who out number you bad people and that gives me joy amen,I leave you with the name jesus

As a hospital volunteer I once knew a teen who could no longer play high school football due to a spinal injury received during a game, and after a few months in the hospital he related some of his despair to me one evening, so this does happen, especially to someone who's physically fit and suddenly finds their body can no longer perform the way it once did - I'm very sorry to hear of this...

 Thank you for sharing your experience with us Glades2

Probably had a depression problem. Most people with depression never really let it show. You just think "why would somebody who had so much going for them do something like that".

Z666 There is no place in the Christian Bible ie King James version where suicide is a sin. Several people committed suicide in Biblical stories to prevent being defiled. Their fate is not mentioned but is also not condemned. I lost my Son to suicide in 2009. He was sick, Is having a illness sinful? Are we judged for our illnesses? There will never be enough answers to make anyone understand why someone dies of suicide.It is sad that people can mock & devalue human life in such a disgusting way. OJ is one of over 30,000 people this year who will die of suicide. The 3rd largest cause of death among 14-25 yr olds is suicide. Educate yourself & keep your hate to yourself.

The suffering Murdock must have been going through, invisibly, had to have been tremendous. None of us knows what drove him to this. Maybe his high school was the last place he felt happy and whole. He could have felt he was on some treadmill and living up to others' expectations too much. It's just sad. I am sorry for your son. It happened in my family too with an uncle, but everyone tried to cover it up for years. I think most people have someone pretty close to them that this happened to, so nobody should be smug and think they are not affected, either in the past or in the future.

The term "headshot" in the caption seems like a terrible choice of words given the circumstances.  How about "photo"?

Something about tragedy always attracts  the worst of of people that want to comment .

In the future they should just skip the comment section all together on death related stories

Define worst, My opinion of this is suicide is rather rude according to the  replies I got  but honestly I have no pity for this guy what so ever. I have dreams too that I cannot ever do because of a disability. The end of a dream is not the end of the world. If everyone in this world  killed themselves because they could not have something they really wanted .... Welcome to Earth population 0.

@Nisroc: But you assume he killed himself over a dream denied. Suicide is seldom that easy to explain. There's a deep spiritual element to it as well.

Someone posted that suicide is cowardly. Actually, it is probably one of the most difficult things to do and takes a lot of courage. I don't know why this young man did what he did, but instead of trying to make a joke about it or call him a coward or some of the other nasty things, why not just say; God bless him! If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all...