Chris Smith, a former Panther defensive end, has died.
Overnight, there was some really tragic news.
According to the Salisbury Post, Chris Smith, a former Carolina Panthers defensive end, died at the age of 31. The cause of death has not been determined.
In 2008, he was a crucial player of the West Rowan High School state championship squad in Mount Ulla, North Carolina. Smith attended Arkansas and totaled 122 tackles, 30.5 tackles for loss, and 21.5 sacks, earning him a fifth-round draft pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2014.
He went on to play in the NFL for eight years, with stops with the Jaguars, Bengals, Browns, Panthers, Raiders, and Texans. Throughout his career, he appeared in 72 games, mostly as a rotating defensive end/linebacker but sometimes on special teams. His greatest season was with the Bengals in 2017, when he had 26 tackles, 9 QB hits, four tackles for loss, and three sacks.
He signed as a free agent with the Panthers in May 2020, but was dismissed just two months later, right before training camp began.
