A member of the XFL’s Seattle Sea Dragons and former NFL defensive end Chris Smith has passed away at the young age of 31, according to NFL agent Drew Rosenhaus. There are no further details available on what led to Smith’s passing.
Smith was active for four games this season for the Sea Dragons, with his last appearance coming just over a week ago on April 9, when he recorded two tackles.
Before his XFL playing days began, Smith spent eight seasons in the NFL. He came into the league as a fifth-round pick, as the 159th selection in the 2014 NFL Draft out of Arkansas. Smith started his career with the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he’d make 19 appearances over his first three seasons.
He’d go on to play with five NFL franchises, including the Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders, and Houston Texans. His last snap in the NFL came during the 2021 season.
While he never lost sight of his professional football career, it’s not like Smith didn’t deal with plenty of hardships on his own. In September 2019, Smith’s mother of one of his children was struck and killed by a car after getting out of the passenger side of a vehicle Smith was driving.
Smith’s passing has prompted several of his former teammates to express their sentiments for Smith and his family in this tough time.
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