Former New England Patriots wide receiver Charles Johnson was found dead in his hotel room, reports said Wednesday.
The former athlete’s cause of death is currently unknown.
Johnson played for the Patriots when they won the Super Bowl in 2001. He was initially drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers out of Colorado in the first round as the overall No. 17 pick in 1994, CBS 17 noted. The wide receiver also played with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Buffalo Bills.
The 50-year-old was serving as the Wakefield High assistant athletic director at the time of his passing, according to Raleigh, North Carolina’s News & Observer.
The NFL has lost a string of active and former players this year. It was revealed this month that former Dallas Cowboys player Marion Barber III died of an accidental heat stroke, the Collin County medical examiner’s officer said.
Barber, 38, was found unresponsive in his Frisco, Texas, apartment on June 1, after police were called to make a welfare check.
Some had speculated that the NFL star suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, commonly known as CTE. The late player’s father Marion Barber II publicly said that his son did not want his brain donated for CTE research. Before his death, Barber was reportedly hospitalized for mental health concerns on two occasions.
In another tragedy, the Baltimore Ravens’ 26-year-old linebacker Jaylon Ferguson passed in June.
According to an autopsy report, Ferguson overdosed on cocaine and fentanyl.
Source: Dailywire
