Star Athletes Who Died Too Young
Outside the stadium where the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals play, there’s a powerful bronze statue that honors the life and career of Pat Tillman. The former star safety famously left his lucrative NFL career after just four seasons to enlist in the U.S. Army in the wake of 9/11, despite often expressing views that he was against war. He was killed in action while serving in Afghanistan in 2004 at the age of 27 and has since been hailed as a national hero. He’s easily one of the most fondly remembered athletes on this list, especially given the brief length of his playing career.
Another NFL star who was taken from the world far too soon was Kansas City Chiefs legend Derrick Thomas. The brilliant pass rusher spent 11 years with the team and was elected to nine Pro Bowls and six All-Pro teams during that time. The 126.5 sacks he earned rank him inside the NFL’s all-time top 20. In January 2000, at the age of 33, Thomas was paralyzed in a car crash that killed a passenger and led to his own death just a few days later. He was posthumously elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Another bright NFL star who died far too early into his career was wide receiver Chris Henry. The fan-favorite player with the Cincinnati Bengals had been a star at West Virginia University before being drafted in 2005. In December 2009, football fans were shocked to learn Henry had been killed after falling out of the back of a truck that was being driven by his fiancée. He was only 26 years old and his autopsy revealed that Henry had been living with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is caused by head injuries.
In July 2019, baseball fans were stunned when Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs died during one of his team’s road trips. The pitcher was just days from his 28th birthday and had already spent time as a starter for two MLB clubs since his debut in 2012. Skaggs was found dead in a hotel room in Texas after what was ruled an accidental overdose on fentanyl and oxycodone mixed with alcohol.
The death of Steve McNair is one of those that still saddens football fans more than a decade later. The star quarterback, who won the NFL’s MVP honor in 2003 and once led the Tennessee Titans to the Super Bowl, racked up more than 31,000 passing yards and 200 total touchdowns in his career, which spanned 13 seasons. He retired in 2008 and was just starting his post-football life when his death stunned fans. In July 2009, the 36-year-old was murdered by a woman with whom he’d apparently been having an affair, who then killed herself.
That Junior Seau was one of the best linebackers in NFL history and that his death was one of football’s most heartbreaking ever are two inarguable facts. In addition to being a 12-time Pro Bowler and 10-time All-Pro pick, Seau was given the NFL’s coveted Man of the Year award in 1994. He retired in 2009, eventually landing in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and would be dead within a few years.
In May 2012, when he was just 43 years old, Seau shot himself in the chest, likely to preserve his brain for study. The subsequent autopsy revealed that he suffered from CTE.
If you had to name the biggest star in modern racing history, Dale Earnhardt would be a tough one to top. He won an incredible seven NASCAR season championships in his career, including four from 1990-1994. His whole image as “The Intimidator,” with his signature black stock car, made him a cultural icon in the sport. That’s what made his very public death, which happened after a crash at the 2001 Daytona 500, a shock that racing fans still feel.
The death of Kobe Bryant in January 2020 shocked the entire world and all you need to do is look at his career accomplishments to understand why. He was a five-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, a franchise that retired both of the jersey numbers he wore during his career, and an 18-time NBA All-Star. In addition to that amazing success as a basketball player, Bryant won an Academy Award in 2018 for writing the short film, “Dear Basketball.”
Just a few years into his retirement, Bryant was killed at the age of 41 in a helicopter crash along with his 13-year-old daughter and seven other people.
In 2010, defensive end Will Smith was with the New Orleans Saints when they won the long-suffering franchise’s first Super Bowl. He played all nine seasons of his NFL career with the Saints and retired in 2014. A couple years later, when Smith was just 34 years old, he was killed in the city that had become his hometown during his career. In April 2016, Smith was driving a vehicle in New Orleans while drunk and got into a crash with another vehicle which then led to an altercation with that car’s driver, who shot and killed the ex-NFL star.
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