Former San Diego Chargers running back Rodney Culver died in a major ValuJet plane crash. Flight 592 crashed in the Florida Everglades on May 11, 1996. No passengers survived.
Minnesota Vikings player Korey Stringer passed away on August 1, 2001, after suffering complications from heat stroke during training.
Kansas City Chiefs’ Derrick Thomas died on February 8, 2000 from a pulmonary embolism, due to a car crash that paralyzed the former linebacker on January 23, 2000.
In a major homicide case, former Cincinnati Reds player Dernell Stenson was run over by his own SUV after being bound and shot in the head and chest in 2003. Two men were convicted of Stenson’s murder in 2007.
Marquis Victor Cooper, formerly of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with another teammate, was assumed dead when he disappeared after a boating accident off the Gulf Coast, near Clearwater, Fla.
NBA player Malik Sealy (Pacers, Clippers, Pistons, Timberwolves) was killed when a drunk driver in a pickup truck hit his SUV on his way home from a birthday party for teammate Kevin Garnett.
The passenger in a Pontiac Grand Prix, former Oakland Raiders player, Darrell Russell passed away when the car spun out of control hitting multiple objects, including a parked bus.
After his basketball career, Howard Porter worked as a probation officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was found badly beaten on May 19, 2007 and died due to his injuries on May 27.
The Denver Broncos’ Darrent Williams was the victim of a drive-by shooting outside of “The Shelter” nightclub in Denver, Colorado on New Years’ Day in 2007.
Denver Broncos Damien Nash collapsed after he participated in a celebrity charity basketball game on February 23, 2007.
Pittsburgh Pirates player Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash to Nicaragua on December 31, 1972. Clemente was headed to the Central American country to aid victims of a recent earthquake the the plane crashed into the ocean off the coast of Isla Verde.
Chris Henry passed away at 6:30 a.m. on December 17, 2009 after suffering severe injuries due to falling off of the back of a pick-up truck. The Cincinnati Bengals player reportedly jumped on to the back of the truck, trying to stop his girlfriend from driving off after a “domestic situation.”
