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NFL players generally have very short careers. While there are always exceptions to any rule, most players end their careers at some point during their 20s and only a few play into their 30s.
The average age of retirement for NFL players is currently around 27 years, demonstrating how short-lived a professional football career can often be.
Playing in the NFL requires an extreme amount of athleticism and determination, which is one of the factors for relatively short careers. The game is also physically demanding and delivers constant punishment to a player's body.
The cumulative beating and injuries add up quickly and can cause a rapid decline in productivity and athletic ability.
While physical decline is the most common cause of football careers ending early, sometimes they are cut short by tragedy. Football players are humans like the rest of us and are not immune to tragic events. Lives can be taken at any moment and unfortunately, this has happened many times in NFL history.
Here are five former players who passed away due to tragic accidents while still being on their teams' rosters.
#1 Jeff Gladney
Jeff Gladney was selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings. He played two seasons with the team before being released and signing with the Arizona Cardinals.
Just two months after signing with the Cardinals during the 2022 offseason, Gladney was killed in a car accident at just 25 years of age. His car reportedly flipped over before hitting a brick wall and igniting into flames. His girlfriend, Mercedes Palacios, also died in the accident at the age of 26.
#2 Dwayne Haskins
Dwayne Haskins was selected in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Washington Commanders, where he spent two years as a quarterback. After being released, he signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 2021 offseason.
During the 2022 offseason, Haskins was hit by a car while crossing a highway and passed away at 24 years of age. It was reported that his car had run out of gas, so he was crossing the highway in an attempt to get to a gas station.
#3 Corey Smith
Corey Smith signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent following the 2002 NFL Draft. He won a Super Bowl ring with the Buccaneers before playing with the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions during his seven-year career.
During the 2009 offseason, Smith took his fishing boat out with four other former players, including two from USF college football - Nick Schuyler and Will Bleakley - and Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper.
The boat overturned and three of them went missing. They were eventually declared dead after the US Coast Guard was unable to locate them. Schuyler fortunately survived the incident.
#4 Sean Taylor
Sean Taylor was selected by the Washington Commanders with the fifth overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft after a dominant college football career with the Miami Hurricanes. He spent four years in Washington while quickly becoming one of the most dynamic defenders in the league.
In November 2007, a burglar broke into Taylor's home and robbed it while nobody was home. About a week later, intruders broke in again, but this time Taylor was home and was shot in the leg. He tragically died the following day from severe blood loss.
#5 Derrick Thomas
Derrick Thomas was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs with the fourth overall pick of the 1989 NFL Draft. He would go on to become one of the best players in Chiefs history and one of the greatest pass rushers of all time, accumulating 126.5 sacks in 11 seasons.
Following the 1999 NFL season, Thomas was driving a car in a snow storm with two passengers when he got into an accident. One passenger died immediately and the other survived. Thomas was paralyzed following the accident and unfortunately passed away from a pulmonary embolism two weeks later.
