College football player dies in hit-and-run after pushing girlfriend out of way

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee State University football player died on Sunday in a hit-and-run incident, saving his girlfriend from injury by pushing her away from an oncoming car, authorities said.

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Chazan Page, 20, of Nashville, was killed when he was struck by a vehicle on Gallatin Pike in Nashville at about 1:30 a.m. CDT, The Tennessean reported. He was walking his girlfriend and several friends to a car when he was struck by a vehicle traveling a “very high speed,” police said.

Page was taken to Skyline Medical Center, where he later died, according to WTVF.

“He pushed me out of the way,” Jayda Jernigan told WZTV. “And he got the brunt of it.”

Detectives with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said a red sedan or possibly a smaller SUV was involved in the accident, the television station reported. The vehicle left the scene after Page was struck.

“A car was going probably like 100 miles an hour down the street,” Jernigan told WZTV. “We were walking, but I was on the side where the car was. It happened so fast.”

“I didn’t realize what happened until I looked over my shoulder and he wasn’t there,” Jernigan told WSMV-TV.

Page was an offensive lineman at Tennessee State. At 6-foot-1, 295 pounds, Page was a two-year starting offensive lineman, primarily playing center. He was one of only three offensive linemen to start every game for the Tigers during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

According to a news release from the university, Page played 28 games during his four-year collegiate career.

He attended Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, where he was an All-Region player, The Tennessean reported.

In college, he was joined on the roster by his brother, defensive lineman Chandon Page.

Page majored in sports therapy at TSU and planned to become a physical therapist for athletes, WZTV reported. He had six classes remaining in his quest for a degree.

Page played Saturday in the Tigers’ Blue and White Spring Game at Hale Stadium, according to The Tennessean.

Mikki Allen, TSU’s director of athletics, expressed condolences in a statement.

“He helped bring out the best in others with his outstanding leadership on and off the field, positive attitude, and genuine care for the people around him,” Allen said. “It is extremely difficult to lose a member of our athletics family, and we mourn the loss of Chazan.”

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