Craft:

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During his time heading Fulton County athletics, there have been new schools founded, championships won and hiring changes — and Craft has been on hand for it all.

“I think Fulton County has become the standard,” Craft said. “When you look at what we’ve done top to bottom, north to south, there isn’t a sport that we’ve not been at the top of the mountain. It shows that we have a true commitment to being great — academically and athletically.”

In a last tune-up before the 2013 season, the Creekside High School football team played at Banneker for a preseason scrimmage two weeks before the Seminoles’ season opener. It was August 16.

During the scrimmage between the two South Fulton schools, star cornerback De’Antre Turman, a 16-year-old junior for Creekside made a play on the ball, forced a fumble and fell to the ground. Paramedics were called and he was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead following a fractured third vertebrae, the Fulton County Coroner’s Office later confirmed.

Tragedy and heartbreak to the highest degree. A child’s life was suddenly taken away while doing what he loved. The impact of Turman’s loss swept throughout the Fulton County community.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to the family of this student,” then Fulton County Schools spokeswoman Samantha Evans said to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This is a truly horrific way to begin a school year.”

Two weeks after that scrimmage, Creekside played its season opener against Langston Hughes with the memory of Turman still heavy on their minds. Craft was on the sideline as the 2013 high school football season began.

“That could have torn apart that