Former New York Jets and Green Bay Packers tight end Tyrone Davis has died aged just 50, the latest in a line of former NFL players to die in their 50s in recent months.
Davis died on Oct. 2, 2022, according to the Jeffress funeral home in the former NFL player’s hometown of South Boston, Virginia.
At 6ft 4 and 240 pounds, he was one of Virginia football’s top wide receivers before being drafted by the Jets in 1995 as a fourth-round pick, turning him into a tight end.
The Jets traded Davis to the Packers early in the 1997 season, where he remained before being fired in 2003 due to a series of injuries and weight issues.
Davis played in 75 NFL games and started 27, recording 73 catches for 795 yards and 13 touchdowns.
His cause of death was not reported, although a newsletter covering Virginia sports and athletes said he died of an “undisclosed illness.”
January 25, 1998: Tyrone Davis #81 of the Green Bay Packers sits dejected on the bench during Super Bowl XXXII against the Denver Broncos at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. The Denver Broncos defeated the Green Bay Packers 31-24
Keith McKenzie (L) hugs his Green Bay Packers teammate Tyrone Davis (R) December 20 after Davis caught a touchdown in the first half of their game against the Buffalo Bills at Lambeau Field in Green Bay
Green Bay Packers’ Tyrone Davis is knocked out by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensemen on January 4, 1998 in an NFC playoff game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin
Former Packers teammate Earl Dotson posted a tribute to Davis on Facebook.
“It’s difficult to post. Rest in paradise teammate. That good man, Tyrone Davis, fought alongside me for years in the NFL Green Bay Packers. Brother forever,” read the tribute.
Davis’ death was preceded by the deaths in July of former NFL safety guard William White at age 55 and Super Bowl winner Charles Johnson at age 50.
Also in June, Tony Siragusa, defensive tackle for the former Ravens, died at the age of just 55.
Although White died from the degenerative neurological disease ALS — a condition for which there is no known cause but studies have shown that former NFL players are four times more likely to be affected than the general population — the causes of death for Johnson and Siragusa have not been identified either reported.
The exact cause of the untimely deaths of NFL players is unknown, but repeated instances of severe impact and head injuries are believed to be one of the biggest contributing factors.
Often cited as a cause of early deaths in NFL players, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease, is caused and aggravated by repeated blows to the head.
Charles Johnson (L), a former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver who eventually won a Super Bowl with the New England Patriots, died in July at the age of 50. A cause of death was not announced. Former Detroit Lions player William White (R) also died of ALS in July at the age of 55
Tony Siragusa, defensive tackle for the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens, holds the Vince Lombardi trophy as he rides with his wife Kathy March 4, 2001 in a parade in his hometown of Kenilworth, New Jersey. Siragusa died at the age of 55 in June
Over time, these effects lead to confusion, depression, dementia, and suicidal thoughts. CTE is also associated with a lack of impulse control, which is characterized by heavy drug and alcohol abuse.
Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, who died at age 27 while serving life in prison for murder, has been diagnosed with the worst case of CTE ever seen in someone so young.
The disease has also been found in Hall of Famer linebacker Junior Seau and Pro Bowl safetyman Dave Duerson, both of whom committed suicide with the express intention of donating their brains to science to test for CTE.
A 2017 Boston University study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that 110 of 111 former NFL players whose brains were donated for research were diagnosed with CTE. The disease was also diagnosed in 87 percent of 202 former football players from high school through the NFL.
Meanwhile, a 2019 study of more than 6,000 former professional athletes in the United States found that NFL players had a significantly higher risk of dying young than their counterparts in other national leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB).
The study found that NFL players were about 2.5 times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease and almost three times more likely to die from neurodegenerative disease than MLB players.