Jordan Devey has died at 38, ending the life of a former New England Patriots lineman whose path to the NFL never looked traditional. Linsey Devey shared the news on social media, and a GoFundMe has since been set up to help support the family he leaves behind.
The loss lands now because Devey was not just another former player with a brief stay in the league. He spent eight years in the NFL, including two seasons with the Patriots and a place on their 2014 Super Bowl team, and he later played for the Chiefs, Raiders, Bills and Ravens. For fans who followed his career, his death closes a long arc that began far from the league spotlight.
That arc started in American Fork, Utah, where Devey did not play football in high school. He was an avid tuba player and also a member of the Cavemen basketball team, a mix of details that makes his NFL career even more striking. He served a two-year mission in Costa Rica, enrolled at Snow College in 2009 and transferred to Memphis two years later before going unselected in the 2013 NFL Draft.
What followed was a career built the hard way. Devey spent a temporary period with the Ravens after the draft, but they let him go that same summer. The Patriots picked him up through their practice squad, he reached the 53-man roster the following season and started four of the seven games he appeared in. By the end of the 2014 season, he had earned a Super Bowl ring as a reserve lineman.
The story after that was one of movement and persistence. The Patriots traded Devey to San Francisco the following training camp, and he went on to spend three seasons with the Chiefs and one season each with the Raiders and Bills. He finished his NFL career with 45 regular season and playoff appearances, a modest total by league standards but one that reflected years of work after an unpromising start.
After leaving the NFL, Devey and his family relocated to Eagle, Idaho, where he worked as a volunteer coach and mentor at Eagle High School. He is survived by his wife and four kids. The cause of his death has not been disclosed, leaving the most immediate question unanswered even as the people closest to him begin to deal with the practical cost of losing him. The GoFundMe now offers the clearest next step: support for Linsey Devey and the children as they face what comes after the final whistle.
