NFL World Shaken As 3 Former Players Tragically Die Before Week 1
This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.
The 2026 season opened after a hard week for former NFL players and the teams that still remember them. Alphonso Smith Jr. died at 40 in Florida. Matt Suhey was found dead at 68 in his Illinois home. Arthur Marshall died at 57 after a fight with stomach cancer.
Those losses landed in the same short window before Sunday’s games. One was a former top draft pick still trying to find his way after football; one blocked for Walter Payton on a Super Bowl team and one caught passes from John Elway as an undrafted rookie.
Former NFL Players Leave Different Eras In Mourning Before Kickoff
Smith was Denver’s 37th overall pick in 2009 after an All-American career at Wake Forest. He played one season with the Broncos, then three with Detroit. He finished with 42 games and eight interceptions.
TMZ reported he died by suicide at a housing community in Pahokee. Hours earlier, he posted a final note that friends later shared.
“Do not cry for me! I tried everything in my power to fight the demons behind the ones that someone put into ME!” he wrote.
He added, “I have HURT so many! I needed help & did not get it!”
The final Facebook post is the last public record of how much pain he was carrying.
Suhey’s death was different. Police in Deerfield found no suspicious circumstances after his wife called for help on September 6. The Lake County Coroner’s Office later listed natural causes.
Chief deputy Steve Newton said Suhey had a significant medical history and was already under a doctor’s care. The primary physician is completing the death certificate, officials told reporters.
Former NFL Players From Chicago And Denver Are Being Remembered Together
Suhey spent all 10 of his NFL seasons with the Bears. He rushed for 2,946 yards and 20 touchdowns and scored the first touchdown in Super Bowl XX. Jarrett Payton later called him his father’s bodyguard in the backfield.
Marshall’s family said he died September 2 at 57. His obituary remembered a giver more than a stat line.
“He genuinely cared for people and found joy in helping others,” it said.
The Broncos signed him as an undrafted free agent in 1992, and he later played for the Giants. His best season was that rookie year in Denver, when he caught 26 passes for 493 yards. The former Broncos receiver had also battled cancer in private.
Three careers, three endings, one opening weekend. The league will play through it, but the families will not.
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