Columbia, Mo. ? Trusted teammate. Caring son and brother. A friend to all, even strangers.

Those were just some of the memories, both tearful and joyful, shared to describe fallen Missouri football player Aaron Ashley O’Neal at a Thursday morning memorial service on campus.

Nearly 300 friends, coaches, teammates, students and Tiger fans filled two sections of Mizzou Arena, recalling the brief but glowing life of O’Neal, a backup middle linebacker who died July 12 after collapsing on Faurot Field during a noncontact summer workout. He was 19.

“He was a class act. He had character, he was honest, his teammates trusted him. He was unselfish,” said coach Gary Pinkel, choking back tears.

“He was committed – truly committed to be the best.”

“We will never forget you,” Pinkel said. “And I’ll never forget that beautiful smile.”

Tiger football players wore T-shirts with O’Neal’s picture on the front and a poem by team member Dedrick Harrington on the back. Harrington, also a linebacker, read his tribute during the 30-minute ceremony.

He then offered encouragement to those who still remained numb over their friend and teammate’s sudden death.

“I know the road is kind of cloudy right now, but joy is going to come in the morning,” he said.

Linebacker Derrick Ming said the team would rally behind the memory of O’Neal, a red-shirt freshman, on the playing field.

“My teammates and I are devastated at what happened,” he said.

“We will use this to fuel us during the season, in dedication to A.O.”

Addressing O’Neal’s parents, who did not attend the service, Ming asked them to “accept the Missouri football team as your sons.”

“Because A.O. was our brother. And he will never be forgotten,” Ming said.

O’Neal, 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, started to struggle during conditioning drills about 45 minutes into the hour-long workout, during which players wore shorts, T-shirts and football cleats but no helmets or pads. He slumped to the ground after the final drill and was helped off the field by a teammate.

After becoming unresponsive in the locker room, he was taken by ambulance to nearby University Hospital on the Missouri campus, where he was pronounced dead 90 minutes after the workout ended.

The Boone County medical examiner completed an autopsy July 13 and ruled out infection, trauma and foul play as causes of death.

Complete results won’t be available for several weeks, pending toxicology tests and other laboratory analysis.

O’Neal, a four-sport prep athlete from Creve Coeur, starred as a running back at Parkway North High School in St. Louis.

High school coach Bob Bunton urged O’Neal’s Missouri teammates not just to emulate him on the field, but also in life.

“Carry on his spirit,” Bunton said. “His spirit of modesty, humility and Aaron’s unconditional acceptance of people.”

The service drew Missouri students and Columbia residents who didn’t know O’Neal, but still felt compelled to pay their respects.