Terrible news coming out of Florida.
Former NFL QB Ryan Mallet has died in a drowning accident.
Deltaplex News has confirmed through multiple sources that White Hall head football coach and former Arkansas Razorback quarterback Ryan Mallett has drowned in Florida.
Multiple sources tell Deltaplex News that Mallett was transported to a Florida hospital from a beach. He was pronounced deceased at the hospital.
Mallett was hired by White Hall on Februaray 23, 2022.
No other details are available at this time. Deltaplex News will update this story as more information becomes available.
Thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.
Ryan Mallett (June 5, 1988 — June 27, 2023) was an American football quarterback. He played college football at Arkansas, and he was drafted by the New England Patriots in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He also played for the Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens.
Before his death, Mallett also served as the head football coach at White Hall High School in White Hall, Arkansas.
Mallett, who was often projected prior to the draft as a first-round talent, fell to the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft, where he was selected 74th overall by the New England Patriots (using the pick they received when they traded Randy Moss to the Minnesota Vikings); that pick was the highest pick the Patriots had used on a quarterback since taking Drew Bledsoe number one overall in 1993, until they drafted Jimmy Garoppolo in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft 62nd overall. According to Michael Lombardi of the NFL Network, the Patriots rated Mallett as the best quarterback available in the 2011 draft; nevertheless, six other quarterbacks were taken before the Patriots drafted him, drawing comparisons to Tom Brady, who was the seventh quarterback chosen in 2000, though with the 199th pick.
Mallett had a solid career in the NFL before settling into retirement. God rest his soul.