Former Atlanta Falcons player Keion Carpenter died at 39-years-old Dec. 29 in Miami.
Atlanta Business Chronicle broadcast partner WXIA-TV/ 11Alive reported Carpenter’s family announced his death in a statement saying he died at the Jackson South Community Hospital in Miami.
"Keion collapsed while on a family vacation and remained in a coma for 24 hours,” the statement reads in part. “Keion's remains will be flown back to Baltimore for burial.”
The Baltimore Sun reported Carpenter's cousin, Jamila Smith of Baltimore, said the former NFL player had an accident while playing with his son.
"They were running to the car when (Carpenter) slipped, fell, hit his head and slipped into a coma. It was just a freak accident," she told the paper. "He was always healthy; he went to the doctor, ate well and worked out."
Carpenter, a Virginia Tech graduate, played for the Buffalo Bills from 1999 to 2001. He joined the Falcons in 2002 and played his final three seasons in the National Football League with the club.
“Today our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of former Falcons player Keion Carpenter," the Falcons said in a Dec. 29 e-mailed statement to Atlanta Business Chronicle.
After leaving the league, Carpenter founded the non-profit The Carpenter House in Baltimore which its website says “aims to strengthen and empower families from disadvantaged backgrounds by providing access to resources, activities and structured environments that enable them to reach their highest academic and economic potential.”
According to the Gwinnett Daily Post, Carpenter was an an assistant football coach at Hebron Christian Academy in Dacula, Ga. and planned to return in 2017.
