Keion Carpenter Dies After Injury in Miami: 5 Things to Know About the Former NFL Star
Former NFL player and Virginia Tech defensive back Keion Carpenter was killed in a freak accident on Thursday during a family vacation in Miami.
Cause of Death
Carpenter, 39, was playing with his son when he fell, hit his head and lost consciousness. The former athlete died at the Jackson South Community Hospital after being in a coma for 24 hours. Carpenter was vacationing with his family in South Florida at the time of his demise, according to the Baltimore Sun.
Beginning as an Athlete
Keion Carpenter, a Baltimore native, started playing football at Woodlawn High School and then played college football at Virginia Tech. He was highly rated as a defensive back at the Virginia college where he tied the school record by blocking six kicks. Carpenter also set a school record by returning an interception 100 yards for a touchdown in a 21-7 win over Miami.
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Carpenter was also an accomplished basketball player and an athlete blessed with immense speed, able to set blistering track records.
NFL Career
An undrafted free agent in 1999, Keion Carpenter signed with Buffalo Bills and played 3 years of professional football there before moving to the Atlanta Falcons in 2002. His greatest match with the Falcons was a 27-7 upset of the Green Bay Packers in which he intercepted two Brett Favre Passes.
After six seasons of professional football, he retired in 2006 with 206 tackles, 14 interceptions and 1 touchdown to his name.
Injuries
Carpenter suffered a tear in his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) while playing for the Atlanta Hawks at the end of the 2003 season. He also had to undergo a spinal fusion surgery, a neurosurgical procedure used to join two or more vertebrae, a while later.
Carpenter is recognized as one of the few players who have returned to pro football after a spinal surgery. He played three more years for the Atlanta Hawks before retiring due to back problems.
Humanitarian Efforts
After his retirement, Carpenter moved from Buford, Georgia, to his home town of Baltimore and began mentoring and coaching students at his alma mater, Woodlawn High School. He strived to serve as an example to underprivileged students and show them how someone who was once in their shoes went to college, made it to the pros and is now contributing back.
"I owe it to the people who helped me in my life to reach back and give these kids an opportunity. It's been in my heart since I can remember," Carpenter said in 2010.
It was with this aim of helping others that he started 'The Carpenter House' -- an organization which "aims to strengthen and empower families from disadvantaged backgrounds by providing access to resources, activities and structured environments that enable them to reach their highest academic and economic potential."
His commendable social efforts in helping those who needed it the most have made him a notable figure among Baltimore residents.
"His talent on the turf gained him national notoriety as an accomplished athlete, and at home, he won our hearts as a beloved community champion with an uncompromising will to reclaim neglected neighborhoods and improve the lives of the underprivileged," said Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in a statement on Carpenter's death. "There is a piece of Keion that lives in us all, and though he will be sorely missed, his legacy is everlasting through the good deeds and people he impacted throughout his life."
