Ryan Mallett Isn't The Only Athlete To Tragically Drown In The Last Decade

Former Arkansas star quarterback Ryan Mallett tragically died on June 27 after drowning at a beach in Destin, Florida. The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office announced on Twitter that a person drowned after authorities were alerted that a group of people struggled to make it back to shore that afternoon. Later, once next of kin were contacted, the OCSO confirmed that Mallett was the individual who drowned. Afterward, the White Hall School District, where Mallett coached, shared the news. "It is with great sadness that we share the loss of Coach Ryan Mallett. Coach Mallett was a beloved coach and educator," they wrote on their website.

During his playing days, the quarterback started at the University of Michigan before transferring to Arkansas. Following a stellar sophomore year, Mallett had a standout season in 2010 when he was not only voted second-team All-SEC but finished seventh in voting for the Heisman trophy.

Mallett's passing came among a rash of drownings in the Florida Panhandle area over the two weeks leading to his death. This prompted a heated response from Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford who said that people were blatantly ignoring warnings to stay out of the water. "Government and law enforcement can only do so much in these situations. Personal responsibility is the only way to ensure that no one else dies," Ford wrote on Facebook. Sadly, Mallett's death was not an outlier as several high-profile athletes had drowned in recent years.

In July 2015, former NFL player and Tulane University star JaJuan Dawson drowned at 37 years old. His body was recovered in Lavon Lake in Collin County, Texas where he had been on a boat with his three children and two other family members and fell off the side, per NFL.com. Dawson was not wearing a lifejacket at the time. A 911 call was placed by a family member at 6:28 p.m. and authorities responded by 6:30 p.m. It was not until the following day that his body was discovered, some 300 yards from where he had fallen overboard.

Dawson was part of Tulane's incredible perfect season in 1998 before being drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He went on to play three seasons of professional football. Following the tragic news of his passing, former Tulane teammate P.J. Franklin spoke highly of Dawson. "He always had a smile on his face, never complained about anything," Franklin told SportsNola.com, via The Tulane Hullabaloo. "It's a terrible loss for the entire Tulane family."

After his time in the NFL, Dawson enjoyed success off the gridiron as a sales rep for Boston Scientific. Houma Today ran a feature piece on the former star athlete two years before his death. "Football was part of my life, and it's something that helped mold and shape my life," Dawson told the publication in 2013. Sadly, Dawson was not the only athlete to drown in 2015. 

Canadian track runner Daundre Barnaby drowned in the ocean off of St. Kitts in March 2015 when he was 24 years old. Barnaby was down in St. Kitts for a training camp with 20 other Canadian top track athletes at the time. A group of them had decided to take a swim together when tragedy struck. "A strong back current took him out, his team mates tried to save him," according to a statement at the time, per Reuters. "This is such a sad and profound loss," Rob Guy, CEO of Athletics Canada, told CBC at the time. "Daundre was an outstanding athlete and an even better young man," he added.

Barnaby had represented Canada at the 2012 London Olympics where he ran in the 400-meter event. He also competed in the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Prior to that, the Canadian sprinter was a star at Mississippi State. He took home the top prize in the 400 meter at the 2012 New Balance Invitational while running for his school. 

Barnaby also competed at the 2014 IAAF World Relays in Nassau, Bahamas. The Jamaican-born athlete posed in the water leading up to the relays. "Flexing in Bahamas few hours before the race," he wrote on Instagram in 2014. Barnaby's last Instagram post was a snap of him posing next to the water on the beach with two fellow track athletes in January 2015, only months before his tragic death.

In 2015, tragedy struck the Dartmouth athletic community when swimmer Tate Ramsden shockingly passed away at 21. According to ABC News, the horrific incident occurred while the young talent trained at a local YMCA in Sarasota, Florida. After swimming 4,000 yards, Tate attempted to execute four additional laps across the pool without coming up for air. The dangerous training technique led to him suffering a "shallow water blackout," when a person faints underwater due to a lack of oxygen to the brain, per Shallow Water Blackout Prevention. "His capacity for love for his family was his great gift. We truly cherished every moment we shared together," his family said in a statement.

A year after Tate's tragic death, Vanderbilt baseball star Donny Everett passed away by drowning while swimming across Normandy Lake in Tennessee. According to The Tennessean, Donny was fishing and swimming with his baseball teammates Ryan Johnson and Chandler Day. While their time on the water started as light-hearted fun, things took a tragic turn when the 19-year-old began to call for help –– which his friends initially thought was a "joke." After asking for assistance, one of Donny's friends attempted to save him but let go after struggling to keep them both afloat. "When he looked back, Everett had gone under and did not resurface," the police report revealed. Before his death, Donny was a top player in NCAA baseball and was even poised to have a future in Major League Baseball.

Another athlete to lose his life to drowning was WWE star Shad Gaspard. Back in May 2020, the popular athlete tragically made headlines when he was reported missing by his family. According to NBC News, Gaspard was last seen swimming with his son Aryeh at Venice Beach on May 17. However, the father and son's pleasant swim turned into a terrifying ordeal when they were caught in an unstable current, which resulted in a lifeguard rushing to their aid. "He was going to try and rescue both. But the father, in his last few words, sad, 'Save my son,'" L.A. County Fire Department, Lifeguard Section Chief Ken Haskett said in a statement.

Unfortunately, his act of bravery would be the last time anyone saw Gaspard, who was pushed under a wave shortly after getting his son to safety. After days of searching, authorities found the wrestling star's body after it washed to shore in the early hours of May 20, per the Los Angeles Police Department. In the wake of Gaspard's death, his wife Siliana released a statement thanking authorities and fans for their support. "We would like to express our gratitude to the first responders who rescued Aryeh and to the lifeguards, coast guard, divers fire and police departments for their continued efforts to help find our beloved Shad," she wrote on Instagram.

In August 2017, Olympic athlete David Torrence was found dead in a pool in Scottsdale, Arizona. At the time of his death, local authorities released a statement stating that "there were no obvious signs of foul play." However, David's death was later questioned by his mother, Bianca, and his track and field peers, who claimed that he may have been targeted. According to Lets Run, the 31-year-old athlete received death threats weeks before his passing, which was due to him being a whistleblower in a drug case. "David had called me, and he told me that he received these crazy death threats," his friend told the news outlet. "He read them to me over Skype ... And I just was like, 'I don't really know what to make of this. I don't know if these people are serious, David, I think you need to take this seriously."

Alongside the death threats, David's family and friends also claimed that he was an excellent swimmer, with his coach John Cook telling The Malibu Times that he could "swim like a fish." "He comes from an ocean area. It's all bulls**t," he added. But despite the death threats, his lauded swimming skills and unusual scratches found on his body, his death was ruled as an accidental drowning by authorities after an investigation. "There is no evidence that indicates a criminal nexus or foul play in this incident," Kevin Watts, a Scottsdale Police Department spokesperson, told Lets Run.