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Former Florida State and Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker, Geno Hayes, has passed away at the age of 33. According to his former football coach Frankie Carroll, Hayes died in his Valdosta, Georgia home around 8:10 p.m. (EST) on April 27, 2021.
Carroll coached the former Buccaneers player when he attended Madison County High School in Florida. Currently, Carroll is the athletic director of the Worth County School District.
The former Buccaneers player was born Eugene Antonio Hayes on August 10, 1987, in Greenville, Florida. After playing for the Florida State Seminoles football team he was recruited by the Buccaneers in 2008. Hayes played for them until 2011.
In 2012, he played for the Chicago Bears for a year. Then he played for the Jacksonville Jaguars for two years.
Carroll was told the time that Hayes passed by his mother. His cause of death was related to liver disease. Last week the former football player was placed into hospice care as he awaited a liver transplant. Unfortunately, he lost his several-year battle with the disease.
Many of his former teammates and fans took to social media to pay their respects. Some people are confused about how he developed liver disease.
Lance Briggs tweeted, “One time for Geno Hayes! Had a lifetime of fun in just a few years sharing our LB room together, competing together… We lost a great one.”
Many fans sent their prayers to his family. Some posted quotes from the Bible. One person — JennaLaineESPN — said, “Throughout his[Hayes] suffering, Geno didn’t stop being a great dad. His kids loved pranking him by snatching his phone while he was sleeping and posting pics on Twitter. He always said his children were ‘just as petty as me.'”
During one of Hayes’s 20 admittance to the hospital — due to the liver disease — he met a woman who was waiting to be brought to a room. According to one of his friends, as hospital staff whisked the former football player away he kept saying “Put her on my insurance.”
He is survived by his mother, wife Shevelle, and children Gemarii and Skyler. May he rest in peace.
Written by Sheena Robertson
Sources:
WTXL: Former Madison County, Florida State stand-out dies at 33; by Alsion Posey
CNN: Geno Hayes, former NFL and Florida State linebacker, dies at 33; by Gregory Lemos
Pro Football Reference: Geno Hayes
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Andrew E. Cohen’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License