Photo by Paul Aiken

Tennyson McCarty, a former University of Colorado football player, stands outside the Dal Ward Athletic Center on the CU campus on Oct. 17, 2006.

The brother of former University of Colorado football player Tennyson McCarty, who was found dead Oct. 19 in a creek near the Peak to Peak Highway northeast of Peaceful Valley, today said the ex-Buff "most likely" died of hypothermia.

"Based on the facts we have from the coroner’s office and the sheriff’s office, the exact cause of death can’t be determined," Eric McCarty said. "The most likely explanation is hypothermia."

Boulder County Coroner Tom Faure said laboratory test results and further investigation are not expected to be completed for weeks. He declined to comment on the case this afternoon.

Both Faure and sheriff’s investigators have said foul play was not suspected in the former Buff’s death.

“We can only imagine him just praying, and for whatever reason, it was time for him to go,” said Eric McCarty, who serves as CU's director of sports medicine.

McCarty’s family and close friends gathered Thursday at the Flagstaff Amphitheater in Boulder for a private funeral, with a public memorial set for 1 p.m. Nov. 4 at CU’s Macky Auditorium.

Eric McCarty said the memorial was linked to his brother’s passion for the outdoors, and God.

“He liked going to the mountains to get away to pray,” Eric McCarty said. “He spent a lot of time with the Lord there. This time, it was his last time on Earth — now, he’s with the Lord.”

Tennyson McCarty’s ashes will be spread throughout Boulder in the mountains and other places he frequented, his brother said.

Tennyson McCarty, 32, lettered as a tight end for Bill McCartney’s and Rick Neuheisel’s Buffs from 1994 to 1997 and played on Boulder High’s 1992 state championship team.

After college, he helped form a traveling magic and Christian ministry act.