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By Matt Levine
Contributing Sports Writer
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We have sad news out of the NFL world as rookie cornerback Khyree Jackson has passed away. He was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft out of the University of Oregon. Jackson's agent and former high school coach confirmed that he passed away in an auto accident. James Crepea of The Oregonian broke the news on social media.
Jackson was only 24 years of age at the time of his death. He had been looking forward to living out his dream as an NFL player.
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His former head coach Dan Lanning at Oregon took to social media to give his thoughts on the terrible situation.
*"*RIP Khyree... Love you @Real_Khyree at a loss for words," Lanning wrote. "I will miss your smile. Great player better person."
Jackson's teammate on the Vikings, Jonathan Greenard, also took to social media after learning about the news of his passing. It was clear that Jackson meant a lot to many different people, making this unfortunate situation even more troubling.
Jackson had one of the better stories from the 2024 NFL Draft, having played at junior college before getting his chance at the University of Alabama. He gave up on football for a few years and worked at a grocery store for a while, but held onto his dream to play football and was eventually given a chance in the D1 realm. He caught the attention of programs and went on to build a nice college career. Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah spoke months ago about how excited he was to have him within the team this season.
"[He has a] really aggressive mindset, [is a] play press man," Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said after the draft. "You know, really good insight we got from one of our former coaches ... about the person and different things like that and how he would fit in. So just really excited to add him in with the mentality he can bring to that room."
While with the Crimson Tide, Jackson slowly built himself up. He posted seven tackles in his first season. He followed that up with another seven-tackle run the next year, but decided to transfer to Oregon for more playing time. Jackson shined with the Ducks this past season, racking up 34 total tackles with five of them coming for loss. He also registered two sacks and three interceptions on the season. His performance subsequently put him on NFL teams' radars. He had a promising career ahead of him so his passing is heartbreaking.
We wish his family and friends the deepest of condolences during this tough time.
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