ANDERSON — Members of the varsity football team at Anderson High School are hoping area residents can help them bury one of their own after a sudden coronary incident took the life of their would-be wide receiver earlier this week.

When Steven Roberts collapsed on Monday, there was no reason to suspect the 17-year-old Anderson High School athlete was seriously ill, according to his father.

Roland Wilburn said his son was the picture of health.

“This is what makes it so strange,” Wilburn said Thursday. “He’s never been sick, not in his life, never. He played football, basketball, baseball ... never smoked, never drank. It just hit out of the blue.”

Roberts died unexpectedly Tuesday evening at 5:45 p.m. at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis of an apparent cardiomyopathy.

Since Roberts’ family is unable to pay for the $4,000 funeral to lay Steven to rest, players on the Anderson Indians football team are gathering donations to fund their teammate’s burial.

“He was a great kid, and he should be sent off in the best way he can be,” said Mark Williamson, 17.

Just days before his death, Roberts was on his way to grabbing a wide receiver position on the Anderson High football team.

He practiced with the varsity squad for the first time Aug. 5-6, according to football coach Pete Gast.

As a condition of his joining the team, Roberts had a physical and was cleared to play.

Roberts had previously played power forward for the basketball team and was expected to play again this season.

On Thursday, Aug. 7, Roberts began experiencing stomach pains. “At first, it just started out with a stomach virus, like he ate something,” his father said.

He skipped the next few football practices and stayed home, according to Gast, who said he didn’t think anything of the player’s absence, since many of his teammates had also been missing practices.

By the weekend, the young athlete was feeling drowsy, Wilburn said, but his condition did not seem life-threatening.

On Monday, Roberts’ illness turned serious.

“That day it got really bad,” Wilburn said. “He was laying down, got up to go to the bathroom and his uncle heard him fall.”

Wilburn said Roberts’ uncle went upstairs to check on him and found that he was all right.

“He went back downstairs’ and he heard another thump,” Wilburn said.

This time, Roberts did not respond when his uncle tried to wake him.

After being rushed to the hospital, Roberts was checked by doctors, who immediately determined that the 17-year-old’s fall had been caused by a stroke.

“At that time, he couldn’t move; his left side was paralyzed,” Wilburn said. “They checked him and found that his heart was beating erratically and was swollen twice the size.”

Roberts was moved to St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis, where he died.

His father said the family was lucky to make it to his bedside in time to say goodbye before he passed away.

Roberts’ parents live in Mississippi. He was staying with family members in Anderson, hoping to finish his senior year at Anderson High School after bouncing back and forth from Mississippi over the years.

Gary Courter, who served as Roberts’ eighth-grade basketball coach at South Side Middle School, said the teen was one of a kind.

“He was such a nice person — polite, courteous,” Courter said. “You talk about a young man with character — that’s Steven Roberts.”

Courter said he was first impressed with Roberts’ character when the teen was still in eighth grade and displayed exceptional sportsmanship.

Before the game, he shook the hands of all the Pendleton players and all the referees, Courter said. “To see an eighth-grader leave the bench and go shake the hands of the other team — you don’t even see that in high school.”

Roberts’ teammates said the teen was courteous and polite, but also had a very jovial side.

“He was just goofy,” explained Marquese Goins, 16.

Tre Jackson, 16, said Roberts’ sunny outlook was contagious. “He would make you laugh and smile even if you were mad.”

Daryl Watkins, 17, said the teen’s passing was a shock. “It was so sudden. We were just wrestling at practice last week.”

So far, members of the team have raised $200 and need another $3,800 to give Roberts the burial they feel he deserves.

On Friday, the team will play a scrimmage game at the high school against the Pendleton Heights Arabians. The team will use the opportunity to gather funds for the funeral.

A helmet, representing the empty spot on the team in Roberts’ absence, will be placed at the gate for donations. Team members are urging Indians fans to give what they can to help bury one of their own.

“No 17-year-old kid deserves what he went through,” Goins said. “He had a lot of heart.”