Baltimore Ravens linebacker Jaylon Ferguson has died at the age of 26, the team confirmed Wednesday. The Ravens gave no cause of death.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of Jaylon Ferguson,” the team said in a statement. “He was a kind and respectful young man with a big smile and a contagious personality. We express our deepest condolences to Jaylon’s family and friends as we mourn a life lost too soon.”
Ferguson was a college star at Louisiana Tech and holds the FBS record for career cessation at 45, and his accomplishments earned him the nickname “Sack Daddy.” He was selected by the Ravens in the third round of the 2019 draft and had 4.5 sacks and two fumble rebounds during his stay in Baltimore.
“He was a wonderful young man full of love and life,” Ferguson’s agent Safarrah Lawson said in a statement. “He will be remembered not only as a football player, but as a great father, son, brother and friend. The family asks you to keep praying.”
Ferguson was a popular figure among his teammates and cut a distinctive figure in the Ravens’ locker room with his thick-rimmed glasses and relaxed personality. He was the first person in his family to graduate from college and was a proud father of his three children.
“When I’m out on the field, I’m very, very calm, because I see no reason to be angry all the time,” Ferguson told Penn Live in 2019. “On the field, I have people. I can’t disappoint. That’s how I work. “I eat this way. And now I have my children, so I won’t let anything stop me from eating.”
The NFL has been hit by a series of deaths in recent months. Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jeff Gladney died in a car accident in June and former Dallas Cowboys Marion Barber III died at age 38 two days later. In April, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins was hit and killed by a truck after his car ran out of gas and got out of the vehicle down a freeway.