Some sad news to pass along today. Former Baltimore Ravens and NFL quarterback Ryan Mallett drowned Tuesday. According to Deltaplex News, it confirmed the story through multiple sources. He was pronounced dead at a local Florida hospital. Mallett was just 35 years old.
Details are currently still coming in and the Deltaplex News’ website is currently down, overloaded by people attempting to read the story. We’ll update with more details shortly. As the headline notes, Mallett was the head football coach at White Hall High School in Arkansas, hired just last season.
UPDATE (6:18 PM): The news report is short but includes this detail.
“Multiple sources tell Deltaplex News that Mallett was transported to a Florida hospital from a beach. He was pronounced deceased at the hospital.”
A star QB at the University of Arkansas, he was drafted in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. In college, he threw 62 touchdowns in two years as the Razorbacks’ starter, leading Arkansas to a 10-3 record and Sugar Bowl bid in 2010.
He made eight NFL starts, including two with the Baltimore Ravens, whom he played for from 2015 to 2017. One of those starts came against the Pittsburgh Steelers as a Raven, upsetting the Steelers 20-17 in Week 16 of the 2015 season. Mallett went 28/41 for 274 yards as a touchdown that day in arguably the best performance of his NFL career.
We’ll add more to this story as details come in. Our thoughts are with the Mallett family.
Mallett also spent time with the Houston Texans and former Texan J.J. Watt reacted to the news.
In a tweet, the NFL has also acknowledged Mallett’s death.
