Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Vikings cornerback Khyree Jackson has died in tragic accident

Episode Date: July 6, 2024

Matthew Coller talks about Vikings rookie Khyree Jackson, a fourth round draft pick this year, who died tragically in a car accident on Friday night. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🎵 Good morning, everyone. I'm Matthew Collar here coming to you this morning with some incredibly tragic news that I will be honest with you, I'm still pretty shocked by, as I've been reading and scrolling through social media, as the rest of you I'm sure have for the last few minutes, reading people talking about the passing of Kyrie Jackson, Minnesota Vikings cornerback, who reportedly died in a car accident last night. And I was just looking at Oregon head coach Dan Lanning, who tweeted out RIP Kyrie. Love you. Miss you, Kyrie. I'm at a loss for words. I will miss your smile. Great player, better person. Right now, all we know, and I'll continue to have my phone here to see if we get any other updates.

All we know is that Kyrie Jackson died in a car accident last night. He was a fourth round draft pick of the Vikings out of Oregon. And where do we even begin with this tragedy? 24 years old. He was one of the best stories going into training camp. A player who coming out of high school, wasn't sure what he was going to do. He went to college and then stopped going to college for a little while, thought about being a professional gamer, and then went to junior college, I'm sure with no idea that he would ever be drafted to the NFL.

He ends up going to Alabama, transfers to Oregon, plays great last year, was one of Oregon's key pieces on a phenomenal team last year, and emerged as an NFL talent who probably, if he had stayed with football and not taken that little diversion in life, could have had a chance to be even a first round draft pick with his talent. He was someone that coming into training camp this year came with a lot of promise and a lot of intrigue because of his size and his physical nature. And his personality was another thing that really stood out.

So I only had one opportunity to talk with Kyrie Jackson, and that was on his press conference after he was drafted. And he told us about his story of not really knowing or having the confidence or belief in himself that he could be a great football player and then finding his way through junior college. He was somebody that worked incredibly hard to do it. He told us about working at a grocery store and how he was working in the deli for a while and fought his way to the NFL to be drafted by the Minnesota Vikings.

And now all of that is taken away in one night as Kyrie Jackson passes away in a tragic accident in Maryland last night. And again, I'll keep an eye out for other updates, anything new that we know about this accident. But the bottom line is that Kyrie Jackson has passed away. And I go back to that conversation with him. It just keeps running through my head about his joy for having made it in the NFL, considering all the things that he had gone through in order to get here and what it meant to him to be able to reach the NFL for someone who wasn't sure at one point what he was going to do with his life. And he told a story about how he had quit football and he was just working on gaming and working at a deli.

And he didn't want to tell his friends that he had quit college when he first went to college. He didn't want to tell his friends that he had quit because he was embarrassed. And then he realized, I need to do something. I can't live with this. I can't live with the what if knowing the amount of talent that he had. And he was a wide receiver at first and then switched to cornerback and took off from there, was one of the best Juco players, ends up catching the attention of Nick Saban in Alabama, goes there, doesn't get a lot of opportunity. And then with Dan Lanning in Oregon, he emerged as one of their best players. His combination of size and length

and physical play and the aggressiveness that he played with, he played with a lot of heart. And that's why he appeared to be someone that would work extremely well with Brian Flores. And it feels strange to talk about this through the context of football, but that was what he was chasing here. He was chasing an NFL career with the Vikings as a fourth round draft pick. And he was coming into this training camp and it makes it all the more tragic that he was going to have a real opportunity with the Vikings to get on the field, to make a difference, to be somebody that could be a key piece for the future. And I think the only reason he was drafted in the fourth round was because he was older,

because he was 24 years old and because he had had that diversion in life, but based on his talent, he was someone that likely would have gone higher had he had a more routine path to the NFL. So the talent, the talent was extremely, extremely high with Kyrie Jackson and the energy that he had, the personality that he had, just a love for the game, a joy that you could pick up on right away from talking with him, a sense of humor, but also a sense of incredible confidence that he was going to make it big with the Minnesota Vikings. And just last night, I've been preparing my things that I'm going to do for training camp, the training camp previews. And every year, one of the things that you do for training camp previews is to put together the most interesting players of training camp,

the players that you're most intrigued by and that you can't wait to find out what they're going to be. And Kyrie Jackson was one of the guys that was at the top of the list. And of course, it's devastating for anyone of that age of 24 years old to pass away in a car accident, no matter who it is. The fact that they don't get to see through their dreams or live the rest of their lives. And that's crushing no matter who it is, particularly for Kyrie Jackson, someone who had a lot of promise and who was a player that you could have seen being one of the great stories, even in the NFL this year, as a player who had taken a unique route in order to get to the NFL, who had gone through this moment in his life where he decided

that he was going to take a shot at it. He fought through COVID as well, because you have to remember that the COVID season, i believe his season was canceled in 2020 and there were so many things that he had to overcome in order to reach that point with dan lanning and with oregon and then to play the way he did and again it feels strange and wrong to bring up his statistics and things like that. But it's what I know. He was a really good prospect. His statistics were excellent. The way that he played really looked like it was going to be a fit with Brian Flores. And every year after the Vikings do

their draft, we watch a little film with the coaches just to take us through who they drafted. And it's not a thing that we record or anything like that. And it stood out to me so much with Kyrie Jackson, how aggressively he played and with the energy that he played. And I'm seeing this from his teammates and I'm seeing this from his coaches coming up over and over here already on social media, the energy, the smile that he played with. I'm just seeing Terry and Arnold who was at Alabama with Kyrie Jackson tweeting out. You hurt me with this one,

dude. A lot of these things now coming out on social media as everyone is waking up to this news and the Vikings have just released this on Twitter. We are devastated by the news of Kyrie Jackson's death following an overnight car accident. Our thoughts are with Kyrie's family, friends, teammates, coaches, as well as all the victims of this tragic accident. So they're the Minnesota Vikings confirming that Kyrie Jackson has passed away. And it's, uh, again, is just a devastating and unbelievably difficult day. And it harkens

back to the many of these that we've had in Vikings land, um, in 2018, Tony Sperano passing away just before training camp and those who are around for Corey Stringer. This is reminiscent of that in a, it's a little bit different because Kyrie Jackson never had his opportunity to play in the NFL and to live out the dream that he had worked so hard to get to. And I was thinking about that COVID year and how difficult it was for everybody. And he couldn't play football during that time because of the junior college, I believe, if I recall the story correctly. And you think about just the amount of perseverance that he had to have to go to junior college, then transfer to another junior college, then to go through COVID, and then to go to Alabama and not get a lot of opportunity at Alabama.

Because they have a lot of cornerbacks on that team, and they didn't get a chance. He didn't get much of a chance to play there, and finally he gets his shot and makes good on it. And he was one of the players at mini camp that immediately stands out to you, his size, his movement, his aggressiveness. And he just appeared to be someone that was going to be a big time player for this team. And again, that seems, it seems almost wrong to talk about what he was going to do on the football field because just the bigger life part of this. But that was what he was going for. That was what he was chasing. And that was what he had fought so hard to achieve.

And he was here and he was going to have an opportunity when you looked at, and I was writing this just yesterday, and this is why it feels so shaking to the core that this is happening because I was just writing yesterday about how there's going to be an opportunity for this really interesting draft pick player who has great talent. And now Kyrie Jackson, because of a car car accident does not get to see that through let me read the statements that the Vikings are putting out right now from Mark and Ziggy Wilf we are deeply saddened by the news of Kyrie Jackson's passing Kyrie had an extremely bright future ahead of him as a player and it was clear he was dedicated to being a tremendous person who made a positive difference in people's lives. We are thinking about Kyrie's family and

friends and all the members of the Minnesota Vikings following this devastating loss. And there's some more statements that the Vikings are now putting out as well. This is from Kweisi Adafomensa, a person who talked about being excited about Kyrie Jackson. You could see in the draft videos that they put out the excitement for him. And this was one where I think if you were Kweisi Adafomensa, you were feeling like you got someone who you rarely get an opportunity to get in Kyrie Jackson. And with Kyrie and his, his personality, it just carried so much joy. I mean, he was such a fun person to listen to talk, even the way he was talking about his potential video game career. And if you go back a few weeks,

I talked to a professional gamer about what his life, what Kyrie Jackson's life would have been like if he had chased professional gaming. And, you know, he probably would have made it there as well because he is, was one of those people that has that type of energy that whatever they do, they're going to succeed at.

And for him to find the confidence and the self-belief and to stick with it to get here is such an incredible accomplishment from Kyrie Jackson. It makes it all the more painful for him to be gone. So this is from Kweisi Adafomensa. He says from a statement from the Minnesota Vikings, I am heartbroken by the loss of Kyrie. As we got to know him throughout the pre-draft process, it was clear the goals Kyrie wanted to accomplish both personally and professionally. His story was one of resilience. He was taking

steps to become the best version of himself, not just for him, but for those who cared about him and looked up to him. Kyrie's personality captured every room he was in. I am devastated that his life and everything he had in front of him has been cut short. My thoughts are with Kyrie's family and friends and those who played with him and coached him in college and his teammates here with the Minnesota Vikings. That's from Kweisi Adafomensa, I think beautifully said by Kweisi Adafomensa there that he pointed out the resilience that Kyrie Jackson had. And it just can't be said enough that this was a person who could have given up so many different times throughout his career, so many different times. And the number of players who try to make the NFL,

who try to get drafted, who try to play at Oregon and give up when things get difficult, and Kyrie Jackson did not do that. After starting out in a different way than most people do with his career, to be able to make it to this point, just resilience is a great word for that. And I thought that Kyrie Jackson was going to bring a really good personality to this culture of the Vikings

that they've created under Kevin O'Connell and was going to be a great fit for Brian Flores. And he was more than just a guy with good energy. I mean, he was a tremendous talent, a tremendous talent, uh, his aggressiveness that he played with the joy for the game that he played with. It is again, so devastating that Kyrie Jackson has passed away. Uh, and, and the Vikings and he and his family will not get to see through the potential that he had. Let me read you the statement from Kevin O'Connell. He says, I am absolutely crushed by this news. Kyrie brought a contagious energy to our facility and our team. His confidence and his engaging

personality immediately drew his teammates to him. In a short time together, it was evident Kyrie was going to develop into a tremendous professional football player, but what was more impressive was his desire to become the best person he could be for his family and those around him. I am at a loss for words.

My heart goes out to Kyrie's family, friends, teammates, and coaches. And I can't underscore having gone through this several times now or something of this tragic nature is how much this has an impact on every single person at TCO Performance Center. I mean, I'm sure as Minnesota Vikings fans right now, you all have a lump in your throat, your heart hurts. Imagine what that feels like there at TCO Performance Center.

We don't have details yet, no, and I'm continuing to look down at my phone just to see if there is further reporting about what happened or a police report or anything that ends up put out there. And I'll read that to you if it is. I wanted to get you those statements first, but there's nothing more we can really say other than this is just an incredible tragedy that Kyrie Jackson does not get to live the rest of his life and see through the career that he fought so hard for. And this is going to be incredibly difficult for the Vikings to work their way through. I saw it in 2018 with Tony Sperano and what Tony Sperano's passing meant to this team. And I'm seeing now just some tweets from players.

Josh Metellus just putting out number 31, Kyrie Jackson's number. Jonathan Grenard saying, not Lil Kyrie. Just seeing different statements from Vikings players realizing what has happened here. And this is really difficult. This is really difficult to talk about. It's really difficult for everyone who is around this is really difficult this is really difficult to talk about it's really difficult for everyone who is around this team and I'm glad that I got to talk to him just the one time

about his journey and see a player that had not really known what he was going to be at one point in his life and And I can relate to that. I went to junior college myself, and this was a thing that I had thought about. The things that go through your mind and you never think that it's going to come up like this. But I thought about at one point asking Kyrie Jackson about going to community college, because I also went to community college. And I also didn't knowrie Jackson about going to community college because I also went to community college. And I also didn't know what I was going to do with my life when I was in community college. And I know the feeling of being unsure of how you're going to make it or

what you're going to become. And I had this idea during training camp to ask him about his journey a little bit more about going to community college and how he found his way past that, because I thought there's a kind of personal connection there between him and the way that I became a Vikings reporter as well. And to now just not be able to have any opportunity to speak with him and somebody who was a joy to speak with that had such a great personality that you could see immediately would connect with anyone. And those statements from Kevin O'Connell and Kweisi Adafo-Mensah, I think they really capture that, that Kyrie Jackson had a personality and a drive about him that you could sense.

It wasn't something that even need to be said. You could just sense it, how badly he wanted to get there. And I also think that he had a good idea for himself as a football player and what he was going to be and how he was going to play. And it just felt like this was somebody that Brian Flores could build into a key piece to the Minnesota Vikings for the future. And that's taken away in a moment. I'm just going to read you Adam Schefter and ESPN's story about Kyrie Jackson here. There's not much new information, but I'm going to read it anyway. It just says details of the crash are not immediately available. His mother told TMZ, and obviously now we know this to be true, that her son died in his hometown of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, which is where he was from.

And the rest of the story is the statements that I already read to you and what Dan Lanning said. And again, if you didn't catch it at the beginning of our show here, Dan Lanning, the coach of Oregon said, love you, Kyrie, at a loss for words. I'll miss your smile. Great player and better person. So we do not have details immediately to tell you what happened here with Kyrie Jackson. We only know that he is not going to have a chance to fulfill his dream of becoming a,

an NFL player for the Vikings. I mean, at that age to at 24 years old to not have the opportunity to live the rest of your life. I just, it is an unspeakable tragedy for Kyrie Jackson to be gone and something that is, it hits in a deeper place for a lot of Vikings fans because of Corey Stringer. Jeff Gladney passed away in a car accident as well. He was a technically a member of the Arizona Cardinals,

but was a first round draft pick of the Vikings just a couple of years ago. And gosh, this is, there's a picture right here that I'm looking at of pro football talk with JJ McCarthy and his arms around Kyrie Jackson. You know, they have those rookie class things that they do, the events and they take pictures and they go places and stuff. I mean, for the members of this team, for his room, for his rookie class, it just, I cannot imagine what they are going to carry with them this year losing Kyrie Jackson.

And I just saw Doug Farrar from USA Today tweeting about this. And Doug is one of the best analysts, I think, out there of watching film and so forth. And he had a whole thread about Kyrie Jackson and his potential and what he could bring to the Vikings. And I think that this player had so much potential to be a key piece of this team into the future. And it's just so hard to think about that not happening. And it's so hard to think about. I mean, last just last night working on the defensive back preview. Just, hey, this is such an interesting story with Kyrie Jackson.

And I'm so interested to see where he fits in. And it's hard to process. It's hard to process. I haven't opened up my story to go back and change that part. This is very difficult. From Jim Nagy of the Senior Bowl, this is where Kyrie Jackson made some of his bones as a player and caught the attention of the Minnesota Vikings. I know that they weigh the Senior Bowl extremely heavily. So this is what Jim Nagy said about the passing of Kyrie Jackson.

He said, So sad. We'll never forget the call to invite Kyrie to the Senior Bowl. Kid had a great spirit about him all week in mobile just scrolled through texts before the draft and he was so excited for the next chapter of his life praying for the tide ducks vikings and jackson families um just just devastating news just devastating news. Just devastating news. Um, okay.

So I have the, uh, the press release. Now this, uh, comes from Ben Gessling of the star Tribune. He has tweeted out the press release from the Maryland state police. So I'll do my best to read this on the fly. It's a little bit small on my phone, but I'll, I'll do my best here. Um, the press release from the Maryland police, Maryland state police says they are investigating a fatal crash that claimed the lives of three people this morning. So not just him, but two other people as well in Prince George's County.

The deceased are identified as one is Kyrie Jackson, two other people pronounced deceased on the scene by a medical emergency service personnel. Others were transported to the hospital. The three occupants of a maroon Dodge charger involved in the crash. Another person was the driver. He was the front seat packed passenger. Shortly after 3.14 a.m. this morning, troopers from the Forestville Barrick responded to a crash

on northbound Route 4, Pennsylvania Avenue and Presidential Parkway north of Dower House Road in Upper Marlboro. three vehicles involved in a crash, where a Silver Infiniti Q50, Silver Chevrolet Impala, and a Maroon Dodge Charger. The preliminary investigation indicates the driver of the Silver Infiniti, later identified as Corey Klingman, was traveling northbound. I'm sorry for all these details here. I'm just trying to read it on the fly. On Route 4, investigators believe Clingman attempted to change lanes while driving at a high rate of speed and struck the Dodge Charger, then struck the Chevrolet Impala. The Charger subsequently traveled off the right side of the road, struck multiple tree stumps where the vehicle came to rest. Klingman and two other passengers at the time of the crash, no one was injured in her vehicle. So what this sounds like, just from this, and it's my immediate reaction, is that it's

hard to say about what was happening in his car, but the way that it sounds is that someone else tried to pass the car that Kyrie Jackson was in at a high rate of speed and knocked them off the road. And then they hit tree stumps on the way off of the road. So I'm sure that we'll get more information about this, but that's how it appears in reading it just for the first time. Again, it says investigators believe that Klingman, who was driving a different car,

attempted to change lanes at a high rate of speed when she struck the Dodge Charger, then another car, Chevrolet Impala. The Charger subsequently traveled off the side of the roadway and struck multiple tree stumps. So he was with two other people and they were, this is my interpretation, they were driving and someone else traveling at a high rate of speed went to pass them, collided with them, knocked them off the road and killed the people inside of that car. And it was two of his high school teammates.

Oh my God. Two of his high school teammates also with him passing away. So Kyrie Jackson, the victim of just an unbelievable tragedy. And I'm just not sure what else to say other than that. But that's the information that we have. That someone was passing at a very high rate of speed and knocked the car that Kyrie Jackson was in off of the road.

And that is certainly something that feels like could happen to any of us. Every time you drive, someone could be driving too fast and reckless and hit you and end your life. And that is so awful. This is a player who had so much potential, but also his friends as well. Friends from high school. He was going back, as so many players do. This time of year, players going back, seeing their hometown friends. I cannot imagine the excitement that Kyrie Jackson had, knowing what was on the way, training camp, the potential that he had,

the opportunity that he had, and all the things that he had overcome to get here. And I keep coming back to Kweisi Adathomense's statement. It was just, I want to read it again because it was just so well said. If I can pull it up here. I just thought it was really beautifully said that he had such resilience. I'm just going to read this from Kweisi again because I feel like it's appropriate. He captured Kyrie Jackson so well. Kweisi said, I'm heartbroken to learn of the loss of Kyrie Jackson so well. Kwesi said, I'm heartbroken to learn of the loss of Kyrie. As we got to know him through the pre-draft process, it was clear the goals Kyrie wanted

to accomplish both personally and professionally. His story was one of resilience. He was taking steps to become the best version of himself, not just for him, but for those who cared about him and looked up to him. Kyrie's personality captured every room he was in. That's just so well stated about Kyrie Jackson. And when I go back to the only time that I had a chance to talk with him and listening to his happiness and his joy on what I'm sure was the best day of his life, getting drafted,

knowing that he had gone through other parts of his life where he wasn't sure what was going to happen. And now he was one step away from being here and competing for a spot and being coached by one of the best defensive coaches in the universe in Brian Flores and someone passing at a high rate of speed, according to the police report, knocked his car off the road and all of that was taken away. All of that was taken away. So, and I think I really appreciate your guys comments here and I'll just read a couple of them. And I really, really, really appreciate all of you. The way that you're reacting to this appropriately Vikings fans, I'm sure are incredibly, incredibly crushed this morning to learn of this news. This is the thing that you never want to wake up to.

It's a Saturday. You wake up thinking, I'm going to mow the lawn. I'm going to do some writing today. It's a nice day, whatever. And then that comes across and it just changes everything. Ken says, sad, just sad. Should be a learning moment for all of us there is nothing to be in a big rush for to get to everyone take note drive to a lot arrive alive and I you know I mean that's the person who was passing at a high rate of speed it doesn't say anything about alcohol or if that was involved or you know something like that from the driver that knocked him and his group off of the road. I'm sure we'll find that out eventually, but you're right about that, that not only could you hurt yourself if you speed that way, you could hurt someone else.

You could take away someone else's future, which appears from the police report is what happened that someone else took away Kyrie Jackson and two of his friends future, uh, by deciding to drive recklessly and at a high rate of speed. Uh, Hunter says a terrible reminder of the fragility of life. I agree. It's one of those things that really shakes you, really shakes you to the core when something like this happens. Because I am now 14 years older than Kyrie Jackson. And I think about if my life was taken away then and how much life you have to live, right? And I still consider myself to be fairly young. I can only hold on onto that for so long.

And for someone 14 years younger than me to die in this way, I just can't even fathom it really, it really is heartbreaking and there's no other way to describe it. Just, I appreciate you guys offering condolences. Um, this person says, my last name is Jackson condolences to his family. Yeah. Uh, man. Um, it's very tough. And, and waiting for the police report is uh one of the things that i i wanted to say was important because a lot of you were asking was it was it this or was it that and

you want to make sure that you have all the information that you that you need for something like this this isn't and i saw it this morning i saw a couple people talking about it early this morning but did not want to go live or talk about it on social media until we had confirmation because there have been instances in where it's wrong and i've just spent about an hour holding my breath and hoping and unfortunately did not get good news here. So yeah, Hunter says it's hard to comprehend this rest in peace. It really is.

It really is. Um, uh, a Westberg NBA six man, Malik Sealy, also in a car accident for the Timberwolves for active players passing away in the two thousands with close ties to Minnesota sports. Uh, yeah, it's, we have been through this before and I don't know if anything is quite like this though, because this is someone who is so young with Kyrie Jackson. Um, oh yeah, I'm sorry. You're right. Scotty. Uh, Scotty says it looks like at the end of the report from the police, they think alcohol was involved. Yeah. Okay. I appreciate that update. I didn't see that in the initial, uh, report. Okay. The report has been update. Thank you. Thank you so much, um, guys for that update that it looks like alcohol may have been involved. A drunken driver,

potentially driving in a high rate of speed, passing someone too fast takes away a promising and beautiful life. So somebody told me, I think it was Jim Peterson and I'm going to carry this forever. Um, I, after Kobe Bryant passed away, I asked Jim Peterson, what, how we should process Kobe Bryant passing away because that hit all of us so hard and he said the one thing that he does is he tries to take something away from every tragedy to go forward with and this right here we can start with and there isn't much confirmation aside from just the police report, but we can take away from this tragedy that if you've been drinking, don't drive.

If you're driving, slow down. Take care because other people's lives are in these other vehicles that are sharing the road with you. Think twice before you pass somebody. Get an Uber. Get a friend to drive you home. Do not drink and drive. Because you could take away someone's son who's 24, someone's teammate, a player that is being coached by coaches who care about him, an organization who saw his potential, the people close to him.

Get an Uber. Have someone drive you home. Go to someplace you can walk. Don't do this. Don't do this. Because you could take away the life of someone like Kyrie Jackson. So this is, uh, one of the worst things that you can ever wake up to. And I think that now that we have the police report and we have the statements from the team that there isn't a lot more that I can say.

And again, I appreciate these really nice comments. Jason says my college team is Oregon. I was elated when we drafted Jackson. I'm in shock. His energy, not only as a player, but as a human being was special. You will be missed. Very well said, Jason yeah i i felt the same way that his energy was really special and there's just certain people who you get a sense from immediately this this person might be different this person might be special and i think we all felt that with kairi and then when you saw his talent you saw the way he worked you saw the aggressiveness that he played with. It's just, it's so difficult. Ghostscape Minnesota says,

I know multiple people that have been killed by drunk drivers. So I look at this a bit different. Yeah, I'm sure this is really hard for you when you see this come up and you've already known people that have passed away because of this. So yeah, there, there isn't much more that I can really say about this right now. And unless something else comes up, but we have the police report. We have the reports from the Minnesota Vikings, their statements and what they've said in the statements of teammates. And. You know, and there's there's not much else we can really say about it, so.

I've been watching duck football since I was born. And this is so tragic. Could have never imagined it. This set. I mean, I know this is one of those things. And I'm sorry, just to,

just to clarify the, the police report says that alcohol could have been involved, but it doesn't, it doesn't mean in Kyrie wasn't driving. Okay. So that I, the way that the police report reads, just to clarify, because some of you are, I think, maybe speculating the wrong way based on this. Kyrie was not driving.

He was in the passenger seat. And the way that it sounds is that someone else was passing him and knocked their car off of the road. So when it says alcohol was involved, it likely means the person who was passing them and hit Kyrie Jackson's car. Now, whether it was him or driving or not, it doesn't make it any different or any less tragic. But just to clarify for some of you in the comments that seem to may have misinterpreted what I was saying, and I understand that I'm trying to process it the same way that you are. But just again, the police report said that there was another vehicle that was driving behind Kyrie Irving, the car, I'm sorry, Kyrie Jackson and the car that he was in.

And they went to pass Kyrie Jackson's car, hit Kyrie Jackson's car. The one he was a passenger in, it went off the road, hit some trees and tree stumps. And that was what was caused him to pass away and everybody in the car as well. So this is a bad luck from their standpoint, not something that, that the car Kyrie Jackson was in caused. So just to make sure that we've got that clarified. Well, I don't,

I don't know how to wrap up. I know how to wrap up when we do a lot of different stuff on this show. I don't know how to put a bow on this. I know how to wrap up when we do a lot of different stuff on this show. I don't know how to put a bow on this. I really don't. This is one of the toughest things to wake up to, to read that I've seen since covering this team with Kyrie Jackson because of the potential, who he was, the way that he he carried himself what we believed he was going to become and the route that he took to get here was so difficult he wasn't a guy who just went to the five star and went to the great college not that there's anything wrong with that but he had

it much tougher and he had to have much more perseverance. And it was what was inside of him. And I think we don't even sometimes appreciate how hard it is to get here, how hard it is to become a Minnesota Viking, how hard it is to be drafted to the NFL, how much sacrifice, how many hours, whatever you think it is, it's 50 times more than that. And the amount of effort and will and dedication to achieving his dream that Kyrie Jackson put in to this and all the roadblocks that were put in front of him that he was able to get past, driven by how much he wanted this, and to have it taken away is one of the great tragedies that I've seen in sports. It really is. It really is. So, again, try to take something away.

A couple things. Number one, don't drink and drive. Truly, remember this. Remember this moment. If you're out, remember this. Remember how this feels. Remember that you could do this to someone else. That's number one.

Number two is whatever your passion is, follow it, fight for it, chase it. That's what Kyrie Jackson did. And he got here. And, uh, I just want to say condolences to all of the Minnesota Vikings, Oregon, his family, the entire organization at TCO performance center. Everyone feels this. I promise you, everyone feels this when this happens. So I can't say enough just how my heart goes out to everyone with the Vikings, Kyrie Jackson's family, and how difficult it is to talk about this. I'll have more written on purpleinsider.com pretty shortly. Kind of gather the different things that the Vikings put out in their statements.

And the police statement. And we'll go forward. But this is, this is something that will, will hang over this team and be very, very challenging to get through for the entire year. This will not be easy for anyone to deal with. And I know this from Tony Sperano. It doesn't just go away when they get on the field, when they get on the field,

the training camp, it is going to be there. And it will be for us as well, as we talk to players and things like that about what happened. So again, I I'm, I'm sorry to everyone with the Vikings, with Kyrie Jackson's family.

I really was looking forward to getting to know him, and I am incredibly sad that I won't be able to do that. So thanks, everybody, for joining. And I really appreciate all the thoughtful comments that you guys left and memorials to Kyrie Jackson. So take care of everyone and be, be safe. It's, it's the weekend. Be safe.