A former New Orleans Saints player, Ronald Powell, died at age 32. No cause of death was given.
A former New Orleans Saints player, Ronald Powell, died at age 32, according to a statement Tuesday by the NFL Players Association.
In the
announcement, the association’s retired players account wrote about Mr. Powell’s passing. No cause of death was confirmed.
“Today we mourn the loss of Ronald Powell—a father, a brother, and a son who was loved and cherished by so many. We send comfort to all those who knew Ronald,” the union wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The linebacker, who attended the University of Florida, was
selected by New Orleans in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL Draft before he played 14 games as a rookie for the Saints. He was ultimately waived by the team in 2015 after spending time on the injured reserve at the start of 2015.
After that, he played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Chicago Bears in 2016 and 2016. He also played for the Seattle Seahawks or a brief stint before he was released in 2017.
His alma mater wrote that it was saddened to hear about his death. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones,” the Florida Gators
wrote in a post on X on Tuesday. The Saints haven’t issued a public statement on his passing.
Mr. Powell had been the No. 1 ranked high school recruit by Rivals.com, coming out of California’s Rancho Verde High School in 2010. He played for Florida between 2010 and 2013, playing 53 games and accumulating 79 total tackles, 11 sacks, and 18.5 tackles for a loss. Before the end of his junior season in 2014, he declared for the draft,
according to ESPN.
A least one former teammate mourned his passing on social media, too.
“I Love You Forever till we meet again an EXCELLENT FATHER Respected Brother and a Loving Son I am saddened to shared with the rest of the world that Ronald Powell Transitioned Earlier today,”
wrote former Saints and Washington Redskins linebacker Junior Galette on the platform.
A reporter with Sports Illustrated
wrote on X that Mr. Powell “had clearly been going through some stuff over the past year or so, very unfortunate situation all around. Hoping for peace for his family.” He did not provided further details.
While he played for the Gators, Mr. Powell suffered multiple tears to his left ACL and impacted the remainder of his career, Sports Illustrated reported.
“It’s been well documented the hardships he has had to overcome and he has always kept a positive attitude,” former Florida head coach Will Muschamp said of the player years ago, the report
said.
After leaving the NFL, he signed with the Orlando Apollos before the beginning of the 2019 season, according to ESPN. He was then waived before the Alliance of American Football, which was billed as a minor league to the NFL, stopped its operations several years ago.
His passing comes as it was recently
confirmed that the cause of death of another former Tampa Bay Buccaneers player, Mike Williams, was due to dental-related sepsis by the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office in December. His manner of death was listed as natural, while cardiovascular disease was also listed as a factor in his death.
Mr. Williams, 36, died Sept. 12 after he was hospitalized following a construction-related accident while working as an electrician near Tampa. The wide receiver had played four seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and later the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs’ before leaving the NFL in 2016.
