*Unfortunately we have bad news about Baltimore Ravens player Tray Walker.
Walker, 23, a defensive back, passed away on Friday in Miami, less than 24 hours after suffering a serious head injury in a devastating motorbike crash on Thursday night.
Although he hadn’t been a member of the Ravens team very long, almost everyone in the organization — from owner Steve Bisciotti to Walker’s fellow defensive backs — released a statement following his tragic death.
“We have two sons not too much older than Tray, and we can’t imagine how much his family is suffering,” Bisciotti said. “This is so sad. The right words are hard to find at a time like this. As much as we can comfort Tray’s mom and the rest of his family, we will.”
Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome was the one responsible for bringing Walker to the organization. The former Texas Southern defensive back was a fourth-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.
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Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith spent a lot of time with Walker.
“This is such a tragedy, and I am praying for Tray’s family,” Smith said. “He was a tremendous young man with so much potential, and I will miss him. Tray had a hard shell, but once you broke through that, you found a person who was learning how to become a man and was so eager to be a great person and professional.”
After the accident, Walker was taken to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami was taken off life support Friday evening. He surrounded by friends and family.
As we reported, Walker – according to a Miami police dept. report – had been riding a dirt bike on Thursday night when he collided with a Ford Escape sport utility vehicle. Walker reportedly was wearing all black and was not wearing a helmet, and he was also reportedly riding without a light on.
The driver of the SUV stayed on the scene and cooperated with authorities, and no charges have been filed at this time, though Walker’s sister, Shalonda Martin, told Baltimore TV station WJZ that she believes the driver of the SUV ran through a stop sign before colliding with Walker. The police do not believe that there were any drugs or alcohol involved in the collision, not was Walker racing at the time.
Another NFL player is believed to have been riding with Walker, but Walker’s agent, Ron Butler, did not know the name of that player.
“I just wanted to say that Tray was an incredible young man and had a very promising career ahead of him,” Butler, told Reuters. “He will be missed.”
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