The death of wide receiver Kenny McKinley has once again shocked the Denver Broncos — and the football world — to its core.
The 23 year-old McKinley was found dead Monday afternoon in a Colorado home with authorities saying it looked like he’d died from a self-inflicted gun shot wound. The Denver Broncos head coach, Josh McDaniels, will speak to the media Tuesday.
McKinley was taken as a fifth-round pick by the Broncos in the 2009 NFL draft from the University of South Carolina, where he’d been the all-time leading receiver during a stellar college career. But his time in the NFL had been a frustrating one, mainly blighted by injury, which, as SI points out, might have been a factor in his apparent suicide. “Everyone with the Broncos is shocked and saddened by the loss of Kenny McKinley,” Broncos President and CEO Pat Bowlen said in a statement on the Broncos’ website. “He was part of the Broncos family and will be greatly missed by our organization. My most heartfelt condolences go out to Kenny’s family and friends.”
Unfortunately for Bowlen, this is not the first time he’s had to address tragedy. Darrent Williams, a young cornerback with bags of talent, was shot dead on the streets of Denver in the early-morning of New Year’s Day 2007. And running back Damien Nash collapsed and died just a few months later, following a charity basketball game in St. Louis. If bad things do happen in three’s, may the Broncos now go unscathed for the remainder of their days.
