Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers Player Keith McCants Dead at 53
Former NFL player Keith McCants has died of a suspected overdose. He was 53 years old.
According to PEOPLE, in the early morning of Thursday, Sept. 2, after receiving an emergency call about an unresponsive man, police found McCants dead inside his home in St. Petersburg, Florida, Deputy.
It’s not known who made the emergency call.
A spokesperson for the Pinellas County Medical Examiner's Office believes McCants died of a drug overdose but it has not been confirmed. There is currently an investigation into his death.
The Mobile, Ala., native played linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1990 to 1992, the Houston Oilers from 1993 to 1994 and Arizona Cardinals from 1994 to 1995.
McCants had been open about struggling with mental health, injuries he suffered while playing football and trying to survive life after the NFL. Additionally, McCants had several drug-related arrests and was homeless for over two years.
In April of 2020, he told AL.com, "The only thing I want to do now is take all my experiences — good and bad — and spread my story, make sure the next man doesn't have the same problems and go through the same things that I went through. I want people to go down a better direction than I had to go down."
Keith McCants was divorced and is survived by four children.
