Steelers QB Dwayne Haskins Dies in Florida Car Accident

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. died at the age of 24 on Saturday in a car accident Florida, his agent told Adam Schefter of ESPN. 

Haskins had been in Florida training with fellow Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky and a number of the team’s backs and receivers, getting in extra work ahead of the team’s offseason program, which is scheduled to start later this month.

Chase Claypool, Najee Harris, Anthony Miller and Cody White were also among the Steelers training with Trubisky in Boca Raton, Florida.

The Steelers signed Haskins in January 2021 after a two-year stint as the starting quarterback for Washington. He dressed for one game for Pittsburgh in 2021, but did not see the field.

The No. 15 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, Haskins started 13 games over two seasons in D.C. He threw for 2,804 yards, 12 touchdowns and 14 interceptions while completing 60.1% of his passes.

The Redskins fired Jay Gruden, the coach that drafted Haskins, midway through his first season, and replacement Ron Rivera decided to go a different direction in 2020, prioritizing journeyman Taylor Heinicke over Haskins. That led to his release from the team and signing with Pittsburgh.

The son of Tamara and Dwayne Haskins Sr., Haskins was a native of Highland Park, New Jersey. He grew up in the Washington, D.C. area an attended the Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland, where he passed for over 5,000 yard and 50 touchdowns from 2013-16. He earned all-state honors and was the Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year.

Haskins committed to Ohio State, where he redshirted in 2016 and backed up J.T. Barrett in 2017 before starting one season in 2018. He threw for 4,831 yards and 50 touchdowns compared to eight interceptions, while leading the Buckeyes to the 2018 Big Ten Championship and 2019 Rose Bowl, winning MVP honors in both games. 

He set Ohio State career records completion percentage (69.9), passing yards per game (245.3) total offense per game (254.1), 300-yard passing games (nine) and 400-yard passing games (four), as well as several single-season and single-game records.

Haskins won the 2018 Big Ten Griese-Brees Quarterback of the Year Award, the Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year Award and the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the conference’s top player. He was named to the first-team All-Big Ten team and was a third-team Associated Press All-American.

Haskins was married to the former Kalabrya Gondrezick, a Benton, Michigan native and former Michigan State women’s basketball player. He was the brother-in-law of WBNA star Kysre Gondrezick.

Haskins is the first active NFL player to die since 2018, when Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson was killed in a car accident. The last active Steelers to die while on the active roster was defensive tackle Eugene “Big Daddy” Lipscomb, who died of a drug overdose in 1963.

The Steelers had recently re-signed Haskins to a contract for the 2022 season. He had been expected to compete with Trubisky and Mason Rudolph for the team’s starting quarterback role this season.

The Steelers have not released a statement about Haskins’ death.