Former
New York Giants National Football League (
NFL) player offensive lineman
Mitch Petrus has died in Arkansas of apparent heat stroke aged just 32.
The one-time offensive lineman died Thursday night at a hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas, according to Pulaski County Coroner Gerone Hobbs. He says Petrus had worked outside all day at his family shop, and that his cause of death is listed as heat stroke.
Petrus was a University of Arkansas walk-on who played alongside Razorback greats Darren McFadden and Felix Jones and later earned all-Southeastern Conference honors. He was drafted by the Giants in the fifth round in 2010.
Petrus enjoyed a three-year NFL career, winning a Super Bowl with New York in his second season and playing briefly for the New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans the following year. He left the NFL in 2013. New York Giants fan page Giants Nation was among the first to pay tribute to Petrus. They said: ‘We are saddened to hear the news of the passing of former Giants player Mitch Petrus who was a part of the 2011 Super Bowl winning team. ‘We extend our deepest condolences to the Petrus family and his friends. Once a Giant, always a Giant.’
Like much of the US, Arkansas is currently being gripped by a heat wave, with temperatures forecast to rise as high as 94F (34C) in the coming days. Outside football, Petrus was a keen musician and played guitar in a band called Vikings of the North Atlantic. His Twitter page showed that he had begun to forge a new career in politics working as an assistant to the pro tempore – second-highest member – of the Arkansas Senate. Petrus was also enthusiastic about barbecued food, and was a popular regular on his local TV and radio stations.