Former NFL running back Lorenzo Taliaferro died on Wednesday at a Virginia hospital after reportedly suffering from a heart attack. He was 28.
The former Baltimore Ravens football fullback was rushed to a local hospital in his hometown of Williamsburg after police received a call from someone in need of medical attention, the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office said on Twitter.
The sheriff’s office did not provide Taliaferro’s cause of death in the release, though sources have confirmed he died from a heart attack.
Officials said dispatchers received a call at about 3 p.m. on Wednesday from someone in an apartment in Williamsburg in need of medical attention.
After emergency responders arrived at the location, they rushed Taliaferro to Riverside Doctors’ Hospital where he was later pronounced dead, ESPN reported.
The sheriff’s office sent their “sincere condolences” to the former NFL player’s relatives in a statement on Facebook.
“Our sincere condolences, thoughts, and prayers go out to his family and friends,” the office wrote, adding a picture of Taliaferro playing for the Ravens.
Taliaferro was born on Dec. 23, 1991 and played college football at Coastal Carolina before being drafted by the Ravens in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft.
While playing for the Ravens from 2014 to 2016, Taliaferro scored five touchdowns in 19 games and ran for 339 yards. Throughout all three of his NFL seasons, he struggled with football injuries and ended each of his seasons on injured reserve.
At the time he finished his rookie season, he completed 68 carries for 282 yards and four rushing touchdowns in 13 games.
The first touches of Taliaferro’s professional football career happened in 2014 during his third game when he scored a touchdown for a 23-21 victory against the Cleveland Browns.
“I did everything all week to prepare and make sure I was ready when my name was called,” Taliaferro said after the game, ESPN reported.
During the next season, injuries started to plague the running back after he injured his foot and was added to season-ending injury/reserve. The foot injury plagued him all the season.
In September 2017, Taliaferro switched to fullback but was waived by the Ravens before the start of the regular season.
Taliaferro signed another contract for the 2018 season with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL) but was released again in June that year after making several tackles as a defensive player and receiving no offensive touches during the preseason.
New York Jets offensive assistant Todd Washington, who is also a former offensive lineman for the Ravens, sent condolences on Twitter after the news broke.
“Heck of a player. Great dude…helped us win some big games in Baltimore,” Washington wrote.
