Chris Smith, a defensive end who spent eight years in the NFL, has died at the age of 31.
Smith was a 2014 fifth-round pick of the Jaguars who also spent time with the Bengals, Browns, Panthers, Raiders, Ravens and Texans. This year he was playing for the XFL’s Seattle Sea Dragons.
No cause of death has been announced.
In 2019, while Smith was playing for the Browns, his girlfriend Petara Cordero, who had recently given birth to their daughter, was struck and killed by a car after Smith and Cordero were involved in a minor accident. Their daughter has now lost both of her parents before her fourth birthday.
Smith grew up in North Carolina and played his college football at Arkansas, where he was a second-team All-SEC defensive end in 2013. He was drafted by the Jaguars and played three seasons for them, then played one year for the Bengals and two years for the Browns before having brief stints at other NFL stops. He played 72 games in his NFL career.