Heartbreaking Final Texts Athletes Sent Before They Died

This article includes discussion of suicide and addiction. It may not be suitable for all readers. If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

Athletes sometimes seem superhuman — they jump higher, run faster, and hit harder than the rest of us. But in their final words, these players' instincts have been to reach out to the ones they loved the most. When promising young English soccer player Duncan Edwards was killed in a plane crash along with eight other Manchester United players in 1958, for example, he addressed his last words to his mother as he lay in a hospital bed. "Come on, Mum, get me home quick. We're playing Wolves on Saturday and I can't miss that," Edwards told her, according to the Mirror, before dying of his injuries. 

And sometimes last text messages can tell us even more about a person: what their priorities were in their final days, who was important to them, what was on their mind. Keep reading to find out what star athletes were texting about before their final moments.

The world was shaken by Kobe Bryant's sudden death in 2020 when the basketball great was killed in a Calabasas helicopter crash alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others. He was 41 at the time and had won five NBA championships over the course of his impressive career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

And shortly before his death, Kobe had been trying to help a family friend. At a memorial service for the Laker and his beloved daughter Gianna, friends and family shared their last moments with the Bryants. His widow Vanessa told the crowd, "They were funny, happy, silly, and they loved life." She added that Kobe and Gianna's bond had been so strong, "God knew they couldn't be on this earth without each other."

In his speech, friend and Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka recalled that Kobe had been texting him right before the crash, per NBC News, asking Pelinka to set the young daughter of fellow crash victim John Altobelli up with a baseball scout. The Altobellis were family friends and their other daughter, Alyssa, had been on the same team as Gianna before she died on the same helicopter flight. "Kobe's last human act was heroic," Pelinka stated. "He wanted to use his platform to bless and shape a young girl's future."

Dave Duerson achieved great heights as a two-time Super Bowl champion with the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants. But he also experienced one of the most tragic fates a professional NFL player could undergo, and the circumstances of his death became a hugely important cautionary tale.

On February 27, 2011, the former Chicago Bear's body was discovered in his Florida home after he committed suicide. Other players and coaches were shaken by the news, especially since Duerson was known for being a friendly and helpful teammate. "When we spoke recently, he sounded great," defensive player Shaun Gayle stated, according to the Chicago Tribune. Fellow Bear Mike Singletary called Duerson "the classiest guy I knew," adding: "He was always trying to help everyone. He was always encouraging young guys to finish their education."

His time helping out other players in the NFL union meant that he was more aware of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) than the general public. Doctors and NFL officials had publicly denied any connection between the degenerative brain disease and football players having concussions. The New York Times reported that Duerson said his memory deteriorated, his vision was blurry, and he had headaches. The athlete had texted his family asking to have his brain studied in case he had the same damage as other retired players. As it turned out, he did. And the repercussions of that Boston University research led to a complete reassessment of CTE and the toll that professional football takes on bodies.

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

Anthony Johnson didn't earn the nickname "Rumble" for nothing: the UFC fighter was one of the most formidable opponents who ever entered the cage and was known for knocking men out with one blow. He was only 38 when he died in 2022, as Yahoo! Sports reported, and had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis which led to organ failure. Friend and fellow UFC champion Kamaru Usman stated, "He was such an incredible athlete," noting that Johnson kept his illness to himself because he didn't want special treatment. "Rumble would give you these nonchalant stories, and he was having dialysis on his kidneys but he never really told you fully what was going on," Usman commented. UFC president Dana White also expressed his condolences toward Johnson's family, adding: "He was always a great kid. He was always in fun fights and he had that one-punch KO power that not many people ever had."

And Johnson showed his love for other UFC figures while he was still alive, too. In an interview with ESPN, Corey Anderson revealed that one of his last texts from the MMA fighter was a message of encouragement about an important upcoming match. "Yo, keep your hands up, no mistakes," Johnson wrote to Anderson. "I don't see this guy beating you, bro. It's your fight." As the fighter reflected, this was typical of Johnson, who always checked in with his friends while they were in training camp.

Instead of going out for lunch with his wife on his last day in 2017, Roy Halladay decided to take his beloved plane out for a spin. "He struggled a lot with depression," his wife Brandy stated in Todd Zolecki's biography "Doc: The Life of Roy Halladay," per The Star. But he later seemed to regret his decision, texting her an apology for not joining her. "I feel like you're upset with me. I should've just gone with you," the baseball player wrote. "I'm not mad at you," his wife responded. "I'm just disappointed that you couldn't just go with me." Halladay then texted her about plans for their son's recital that afternoon. When Brandy wrote that she loved him and he needed to come to their son's school, he replied, "I love you too. I'm sorry. I should've just gone with you. Another wasted day."

The former Blue Jay crashed into the water along the Gulf Coast at around noon. His house was quickly swarmed by reporters and the news of Roy's death spread to his sons from their classmates. The National Transportation Safety Board later released a review evaluating that Roy shouldn't have been performing certain high-rise maneuvers, especially since his blood contained a mixture of opioids, amphetamine, a muscle relaxant, and zolpidem (usually sold as Ambien) at his time of death. The Phillies and the Toronto Blue Jays both retired the pitcher's number and he was honored in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

In a chillingly similar case to Dave Duerson, NFL star Junior Seau died by suicide after months of displaying CTE symptoms. The night before his death, the linebacker sent a text message to his ex-wife and children in which he simply wrote, "I love you."

"A lot of things, towards the end of his life, patterns that we saw and things that worried us, it makes sense now," his ex-wife Gina told ABC News, describing how his emotional state had spiraled into depression. Seau's family had his brain matter tested for CTE after his death and neuroscientists found definitive proof of the disease, which has been linked to suicidal ideation and mental illness. It was probably caused by two decades of Seau hitting his head as a linebacker in the NFL. "The head-to-head contact, the collisions are just, they're out of control," Gina said, adding: "He was a warrior and he loved the game, but ... I know that he didn't love the end of his life."

"We appreciate the Seau family's cooperation with the National Institutes of Health," a representative for the NFL stated after the news broke, promising that the league would commit to doing more research on concussions. At the time of Seau's 2013 passing, CTE could be diagnosed only in deceased individuals. Mayo Clinic has reported that researchers seek to change this.

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

Cricketer Shane Warne, also known as the "King of Spin," was so beloved in his home country of Australia that after his early death in 2022, he was given a state memorial service and posthumously appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia. It was later revealed that he had died of a heart attack at age 52 while staying on the Thai island of Koh Samui, as CNN reported.

Sports reporter Peter Ford cemented Warne's reputation by opening up about the thousands of texts that the two had exchanged over the years, nearly until Warne's death. Ford told "The Morning Show" that they weren't close personal buddies in reality and hadn't even spoken verbally. However, they had a business relationship and always spoke over texts about the things that mattered most, like Warne's children. "I have no doubt, absolutely a very decent human being. Probably flawed, larrikin, ratbag, all those words we've used. Sometimes his own worst enemy, but I think a really terrific bloke."

And right before Warne's fatal heart attack, the cricketer reached out to Ford for a touching reason. "...Early Friday afternoon I got [a message]. He contacted me 'cause he'd read a tweet that I'd done about my dog dying and he contacted me and said, 'How are you going?'" the sports reporter recalled to 2GB's Ben Fordham, describing the sportsman's kindness.

MLB starting pitcher Tyler Skaggs was only 27 when he was found dead in a Dallas hotel with a fatal combination of fentanyl, alcohol, and oxycodone in his body, as CBS News reported. His tragic death led to an investigation into the use of opiates on his team and Eric Kay, a former Los Angeles Angels employee who gave Skaggs the pills that led to his overdose, was put on trial.

Pitchers Matt Harvey, Mike Morin, and Cam Bedrosian, as well as first baseman C.J. Cron, all testified that Kay had been supplying players with drugs. Harvey also admitted that he wished he had warned Skaggs to stay away from them, adding: "In baseball, you do everything you can to stay on the field. At the time, I felt as a teammate I was just helping him get through whatever he needed to get through." Per the Los Angeles Times, Tyler had been messaging communications employee Kay about hotel rooms (writing "469" and "Come by") rather than replying to his wife Carli's customary goodnight text.

At the end of his trial in federal court, Kay was ultimately sentenced to 22 years, as ESPN reported in October 2022. Carli Skaggs and Tyler's mother started a foundation for young athletes in tribute to Tyler, and the Angels celebrated his legacy by wearing his number 45 jersey.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

On the night he died, former NFL quarterback Steve McNair had been exchanging texts with a woman he had been romantically involved with. Sahel Kazemi was asking the 36-year-old McNair for $2,000 to cover a phone bill on July 3, 2009, as Nashville police later told the Associated Press, and emphasized how much financial stress she was under. The texts released by police also show the pair arranging to meet up that night: after McNair confirmed that he had transferred the money, Kazemi repeatedly asked to come over, and the football player told her to leave his condo's front door open for him. When he returned home, she murdered him and then killed herself.

Local police revealed that Kazemi was reportedly worried about another woman allegedly in McNair's life at the time of the shooting. The quarterback's death caused shockwaves and his former team, the Tennessee Titans, paid tribute to McNair and his family through a public memorial at LP Field. "He was one of the finest players to play for our organization and one of the most beloved players by our fans," owner K.S. Adams Jr. insisted in his statement, giving his condolences to McNair's loved ones. "He played with unquestioned heart and leadership and led us to places that we had never reached, including our only Super Bowl."

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

John Madden enjoyed a long career in football, becoming a coach and a beloved sports commentator after his playing days were over. He was the first sportscaster featured on all four separate broadcast networks, and he even lent his name to the popular video game series "Madden NFL." So a lot of NFL fans were devastated on December 28, 2021, when the news broke that he had died at the age of 85 in his California home. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stated, "There will never be another John Madden, and we will forever be indebted to him for all he did to make football and the NFL what it is today," noting what a wonderful person Madden had been to his wife, children, and grandkids, as well.

His final Christmas had been spent with the family, per ESPN, watching a documentary about Madden that his friend Richie Zyontz had helped bring to the screen. "Merry Christmas to you and yours. Thanks for everything you did to make this happen," the NFL legend texted Zyontz, whose career in TV had been kick-started by Madden back when Zyontz was a security guard at CBS. His friend replied by wishing Madden and his wife a happy 62nd anniversary and observing that the documentary could have been even longer to cover the commentator's whole career. "Thanks," Madden wrote in his final text message. "Everyone says it should have been longer."

Australian Olympian Alex "Chumpy" Pullin was a formidable force as a snowboarder. Away from the slopes, he took to the ocean to indulge in his passion for spearfishing. It was while engaging in the latter that Pullin's life suddenly ended, when he drowned just off Queensland's Gold Coast in July 2020. He was 32. Rescuers who dragged the two-time world champion snowboarder to shore said that he wasn't wearing an oxygen mask and had died from a shallow-water blackout. "Another diver was out there and located him on the sea floor and raised the attention of nearby surfers who sought lifeguards to bring him in," said one officer (per The Guardian). Australia's sporting community was devastated by the news about Pullin, the country's flagbearer at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.

Pullin's final text wasn't directed at any of his friends or family, but at someone he had just met a week before he died. He befriended Scott Johnstone, a local physiotherapist who was surfing at the time they first met. "He was pumped about his hobby and the feeling it gave to bring home fish to his partner and friends," said Johnstone about one of their conversations (per Yahoo! Sports). Apparently the two texted frequently, mostly about his enthusiasm for spearfishing and the coastal conditions of the area. As proof, Johnston produced a message that read: "I'm so keen to score the reef again when it picks up! Man that was fun."