Tom Brady Honors Ryan Mallett After Former Patriots QB's Death: 'We Lost a Great Man'
June 28, 2023
Tom Brady has honored his former New England Patriots teammate, Ryan Mallett, who died Tuesday at age 35.
"We lost a great man. Thank you for everything Ryan," Brady wrote in an Instagram story (h/t Christian Arnold of the New York Post). "Praying for the Mallett family and all their loved ones tonight."
Per Luke Matheson of Deltaplex News, Mallett was among a group of nine to 12 other people who were caught in a rip current in the Destin, Florida, area.
The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office confirmed Mallett died in an apparent drowning when he was with a group of people who were struggling to make their way back to shore.
Matheson noted the other people caught in the current were able to reach a sandbar and get safely out of the water, but Mallett was swept under the water.
"Lifesaving measures were immediately undertaken but the man was pronounced deceased at the Destin Emergency Room," the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office wrote.
Mallett was a third-round draft pick by the Patriots in 2011. He spent the first three years of his NFL career in New England before being traded to the Houston Texans prior to the 2014 season.
After playing parts of two seasons in Houston, he finished his playing career with the Baltimore Ravens from 2015 to 2017.
Mallett moved into coaching at the high school level in 2020. He began as an assistant coach at Mountain Home High School in Arkansas.
White Hall High School in White Hall, Arkansas, hired Mallett as its head football coach in August 2022. He was born in Arkansas and played college football for the Razorbacks from 2008 to 2010, earning All-SEC second-team honors in each of his final two seasons.