After losing their mother, 41-year-old Gala Gilliam, on Aug. 19, Michigan State University student-athlete Armorion Smith is the legal guardian of his four younger siblings while studying criminal justice and playing college football as of Sept.

Football player Armorion Smith plays for the Michigan State Spartans while also helping to take care of his younger siblings after the recent death of their mother.

According to The Associated Press, Smith, who is a 21-year-old defensive back at Michigan State, has become the legal guardian of his four siblings after the death of their mother. Besides playing football at school, he also studies criminal justice while caring for his younger siblings.

Michigan State football player Armorion Smith became the legal guardian of four of his siblings at just 21 years old after his mother died of breast cancer

I can feel her living through me,” Armorion Smith, 21, said of his late mother. “Almost like I hear her voice telling me how proud she is of me.”

Michigan State University football player Armorion Smith has answered the call for his family after the tragic death of his mother. Smith, 21, became the legal guardian of four of his younger siblings following the passing of his mother,

Armorion Smith, a defensive back for Michigan State, has been balancing life on the field with the aftermath of the death of his mother, Gala Gilliam.