NFL player and Arizona Cardinals cornerback, Jeff Gladney has been confirmed dead at the age of 25 after being involved in a car accident in Texas.
The cornerback was found dead on Woodall Rodgers Freeway in Dallas earlier on Monday morning, May 30.
Investigators said a vehicle was going over the speed limit and and clipped another car from its rear, according to CBS News. The driver of the speeding car lost control and crashed into the highway’s beam, near Allen St. Two people were in the other vehicle but they reportedly came out of the incident unscathed.
Dallas Police said the crash occurred at 2.30 a.m. and reported two fatalities, including Gladney.
‘We are asking prayers for the family and privacy at this most difficult time,’ his agent Brian Overstreet said.
The former Texas Christian University (TCU) draft prospect had just signed with the Cardinals in the 2022 off-season after being acquitted of felony assault. In 2021, a woman that Gladney had been in a relationship with, claimed that the NFL player domestically assaulted her after he demanded to see her text messages in his car.
Gladney started 15 games in his 2020 rookie year with the Vikings. He had not been around the NFL since his arrest in April 2021 in Dallas. After being found not guilty in a Dallas court on March 10, he signed a two-year deal with the Cardinals.
On Monday afternoon, the Cardinals released a statement after learning the news, describing the player’s death as a ‘tremendous loss.’
‘We are devastated to learn of Jeff Gladney’s passing,’ the statement read. ‘Our hearts go out to his family, friends, and all who are mourning this tremendous loss.’
Gladney’s old team, the Minnesota Vikings, also mourned the loss of its former player in a publicly shared statement.
‘We are saddened by the tragic death of former Viking Jeff Gladney. Our hearts go out to his family and friends, as well as the Arizona Cardinals organization and Jeff’s current and former teammates and coaches who are mourning his life lost much too soon,’ the statement read.
Gladney was also the youngest of four children in his family. He was from New Boston, a two-hour-and-a-half drive from Dallas. He is survived by his one-year-old son.