Man Claims He Saw Dwayne Haskins Walking On Florida Highway Prior To Fatal Crash
While the details surrounding Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins’s death are still scarce, there’s at least one person who claims to have seen the 24-year-old prior to his very untimely passing.
According to NBC Miami, Florida resident Chris Stanley believes he saw the Heisman Trophy finalist on the highway before the accident which involved a dump truck hitting him.
Stanley said he was on his way home from the airport and noticed vehicles veering into his lane.
“And what I noticed was a Mack truck, or a big tractor-trailer, with also another vehicle that started moving a little bit to the left,” he told the news station. “I was in the left lane and then there was the right lane. And then I noticed an individual there starting to make their way onto the road."
Stanley said he saw the man’s arms raised as he appeared to be drifting into the highway. “He was about halfway, to a quarter way in the right lane, already onto the highway and I was already concerned that somebody was going to strike him right there at that moment," he said.
Additionally, Stanley claims he called 911 at 6:31 a.m., six minutes before police said the crash was reported at 6:37 a.m. and didn’t notice a vehicle that may have belonged to Haskins.
“I did not see any vehicle nearby,” he said. “I was more concerned with him because he was already making his way onto the road system."
Stanley also said he could not tell why Haskins was on the highway. “That's why it's just very disturbing," he said. "I just didn't understand the situation.”
Previously it was reported that Haskins was struck by a dump truck and killed in the early morning hours of Saturday on the I-595 while trying to cross lanes with oncoming traffic, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
He was in Florida training with his team. The FHP says he was walking on a “limited access facility for unknown reasons.
“He was attempting to cross the westbound lanes of I-595 when there was oncoming traffic,” authorities say. “Unfortunately, he was struck by an oncoming dump truck.”
It still isn’t known why Haskins was walking on the highway.
Dwayne Haskins was a college football standout at Ohio State. Starting just one season for the Buckeyes back in 2018, he instantly became one of the best collegiate players, setting Big Ten records and finishing third in Heisman Trophy voting that same year.
During the 2019 NFL Draft, the then-Washington Football Team selected Haskins with the 15th overall pick, however he struggled through an up-and-down rookie season and was released during his second season in 2020.
A year later, the Steelers signed Haskins, however he didn’t play during the regular season. With the departure of veteran quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, he was vying for the starting job this offseason.
