{"id":2687,"date":"2024-08-04T16:04:27","date_gmt":"2024-08-04T16:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=2687"},"modified":"2024-08-04T16:04:27","modified_gmt":"2024-08-04T16:04:27","slug":"breaking-former-cleveland-browns-running-back-and-fan-favorite-tragically-dies-in-fatal-car-accident-at-44","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=2687","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Former Cleveland Browns Running Back And Fan-Favorite Tragically Dies In Fatal Car Accident At 44"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former\u00a0<a class=\"mai-link-injected\" href=\"https:\/\/www.totalprosports.com\/nfl\/cleveland-browns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cleveland Browns<\/a>\u00a0running back Benjamin Gay Jr. has tragically passed away.<\/p>\n<p>Gay, survived by his wife and three children, worked as a welder following his retirement from football. He was 44 years old.<\/p>\n<p>According to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.beaconjournal.com\/story\/sports\/pro\/browns\/2024\/08\/03\/ben-gay-former-browns-running-back-dies-car-accident-in-colorado-nfl-2001\/74580155007\/\">Akron Beacon Journal,<\/a>\u00a0the fan-favorite died in a vehicular accident that took place in Colorado on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>The Akron, Ohio native\u2019s path to the\u00a0<a class=\"mai-link-injected\" href=\"https:\/\/www.totalprosports.com\/nfl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NFL<\/a>\u00a0was far from typical. A superstar in high school, Benjamin Gay Jr. found himself kicked off the program at Baylor and continued his career at Garden City Community College.<\/p>\n<p>The best players would have had difficulty being drafted from junior college, so it was no surprise when the league passed on him. He ended up in the CFL with the Edmonton Eskimos but was released after a single preseason game.<\/p>\n<p>He got a tryout after returning to the United States, with the Browns signing him before training camp in 2001.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-benjamin-gay-jr-s-stint-in-the-nfl-was-a-brief-one\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Benjamin Gay Jr.\u2019s Stint In The NFL Was A Brief One<\/h2>\n<p>Benjamin Gay Jr. only played one season for Cleveland, but it was a memorable one in which he endeared himself to the fans.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">We\u2019re saddened to learn of the death of former Browns running back Benjamin \u201cBen\u201d Gay.<\/p>\n<p>In his rookie and only season in the NFL, the Garden City Community College product had a career day as he helped Cleveland beat their arch rival the Baltimore Ravens 27-17 in week 10 of the\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/OWVvjIHabG\">pic.twitter.com\/OWVvjIHabG<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Four Verts \ud83c\udfc8 (@FourVerticals_) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FourVerticals_\/status\/1819918523260457424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 4, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Having started the term as the third-strong RB and special teams cog, he started against defending Super Bowl champions, the\u00a0<a class=\"mai-link-injected\" href=\"https:\/\/www.totalprosports.com\/nfl\/baltimore-ravens\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Baltimore Ravens<\/a>\u00a0in Week 10, giving an excellent account of himself as he registered 63 yards from scrimmage and a critical touchdown in the 27-17 win.<\/p>\n<p>He was the Browns\u2019 top rusher in a comeback win over the Tenessee Titans in which they fought back from 14 down in the fourth quarter to win.<\/p>\n<div id=\"incontent-ad-3\" class=\"pw-incontent\" data-label=\"Advertisement\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"pw-ad-scroll-container pw-hide-in-content-out-of-view\" data-pw-in-article=\"true\">\n<div class=\"pw-ad-container-logo\">\n<p>Gay was released at the end of the season. He joined the\u00a0<a class=\"mai-link-injected\" href=\"https:\/\/www.totalprosports.com\/nfl\/indianapolis-colts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Indianapolis Colts<\/a>\u00a0for training camp but was eventually waived and was unable to return to the NFL thereafter.<\/p>\n<p>TPS sends out heartfelt condolences to Gay\u2019s family, friends, and loved ones.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Rest in peace, Benjamin Gay Jr. \u2013 1980-2024.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former\u00a0Cleveland Browns\u00a0running back Benjamin Gay Jr. has tragically passed away. Gay, survived by his wife and three children, worked as a welder following his retirement from football. He was 44 &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2687"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2689,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2687\/revisions\/2689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}