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Korey Cunningham #74 of the New England Patriots looks on after the game against the Denver Broncos at Gillette Stadium on October 18, 2020 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

What was NFL offensive tackle Korey Cunningham’s cause of death?

The former NFL star passed away at just 28.

Born on May 17, 1995, in Montevallo, Alabama, Korey Cunningham was a professional football player who starred as an offensive tackle. Having shone in college football playing for the Cincinnati Bearcats, the Arizona Cardinals selected Cunningham in the seventh round of the 2018 National Football League draft. He subsequently played for the New England Patriots and New York Giants.

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Cunningham signed a reserve/future contract with the Giants in January 2023 but was released the following August. His actual playing career in the NFL lasted from 2018 until 2022.

Away from his football career, Cunningham was also an entrepreneur and was the registered agent for K5 LOGISTICS LLC, a New Jersey-based company he filed in November 2023. Tragically, on April 25, 2024, Cunningham passed away in Clifton, New Jersey. He was only 28. But what happened?

How did Korey Cunningham die?

Emergency responders found Cunningham dead at his Clifton home just before 3:30 p.m. EDT after he was reported unconscious. Officials immediately pronounced him dead and reported his death to the State Regional Medical Examiner’s Office. His body was removed from the property by the medical examiner at around 4:30 p.m.

According to information obtained by local news organization RLS Media, Cunningham’s death was self-inflicted, though specifically how he went about taking his own life remains unknown. His penultimate Instagram post (embedded above) now seems massively poignant. Posted just over a month before his passing, Cunningham captioned the post with the words, “Love your journey.”

His high school, Montevallo High, for whom he played football during his time there, was among the many parties who paid tribute to him in the wake of his passing. May Korey Cunningham rest in peace.

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Kevin Stewart
Kevin is a freelance writer at We Got This Covered. He's been writing and editing for various publications worldwide since 2013, mainly about movies, TV, and sports. He's had more than 2000 pieces of writing published. He loves to travel, watch movies (horror, superhero stuff, and '80s films are his favorites), and keep fit. Kevin has a degree in Business Management, once appeared on British TV quiz show The Chase, and regularly asks #KevsMovieQuestions on his X (formerly Twitter).