Former Washington quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. is dead after being hit by a dump truck while walking across a South Florida highway. Haskins was 24.
Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Lt. Indiana Miranda confirmed the accident on westbound Interstate 595 to The Associated Press. Haskins was pronounced dead at the scene.
Miranda didn’t say why Haskins was on the highway at the time. The accident caused the highway to be shut down for several hours.
“He was just walking on the highway and got hit,” Miranda told the AP.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported Haskins’ death after receiving word from the player’s agent, Cedric Saunders.
Both the Pittsburgh Steelers, who Haskins joined in 2021, and the Washington Commanders reacted to news of Haskins’ death.
Statement from head coach Ron Rivera pic.twitter.com/tVBLva7Dsd
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) April 9, 2022
Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin said in a statement that “Dwayne was a great teammate, but more so a tremendous friend to so many. I am truly heartbroken.”
Commanders co-owners Dan and Tanya Snyder released their own joint statement: “To say we are heartbroken is an understatement. Our hearts and prayers are with the members of the Dwaynes’ family and all of those who knew and loved him.”
“The community, former Head of School Dr. Gerald Boarman and I send our sincerest condolences to his parents, Dwayne Sr. and Tamara, and his sister, Tamia, Class of 2019. We are so deeply sorry for their loss,” said Christian G. Sullivan, the head of school for Bullis School.
Haskins would have turned 25 on May 3.
Rest in peace, Dwayne ❤️ pic.twitter.com/5dbwqFSbLy
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) April 9, 2022
A 2016 graduate from the Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland, Haskins went on to play quarterback at Ohio State for three seasons. Career highlights as a Buckeye included a Big 10 championship, a Rose Bowl victory and being a Heisman Trophy runner-up in the 2018 season.
Haskins was billed as Washington’s future quarterback when the franchise took him with the 15th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft — a dream come true for the hometown product, according to WTOP Sports Director George Wallace. However, the former Ohio State star struggled to find his footing in Washington.
He went 2-5 in his seven starts as a rookie, and then went 1-5 his six starts for in 2020.
“It was a situation where he came in (with) one coaching staff, and then the other coaching staff in Ron Rivera’s inherited him, and wasn’t really sold on him at the time,” Wallace said.
Haskins was released by Washington at the conclusion of the 2020 season, and was picked up by the Steelers for the 2021 season. The retirement of longtime Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger at the end of last season gave Haskins a chance to compete for the starting job ahead of the 2022 season.
Wallace said that Haskins was down in Florida with newly signed quarterback Mitch Trubisky to prepare the upcoming season’s competition under center.
“With the retirement of (Roethlisberger), the door was open there for him to kind of turn his career around and set a legacy for himself, and unfortunately, we won’t get to see that,” Wallace said.
WTOP’s George Wallace and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
