Ray Lewis III, the son of two-time Super Bowl champion Ray Lewis, died of a suspected overdose, according to a police report.
Lewis died Wednesday after officers were dispatched to a central Florida residence and discovered unresponsive in a bedroom, according to the Casselberry Police Department.
Lewis was said to be 28 years old. He spent two seasons playing cornerback at Miami, his father’s alma mater, before transferring to Coastal Carolina in 2015. He completed his career at Virginia Union.
“The evidence and witness accounts show this incident to be a tragic accident,” police stated in a statement.
When an officer arrived to the home on Wednesday evening, someone was performing CPR on Lewis. A second person informed the officer that Lewis need the opioid-overdose antidote naloxone, which the officer delivered with Narcan, according to the police report.
The antidote and subsequent life-saving attempts were failed. According to police, Lewis was brought to a hospital and pronounced dead of a suspected overdose, pending an official autopsy report.
Mark James, his former Virginia Union coach, stated his former player “was a great kid.”
“He played hard, and it was a pleasure knowing him,” James told the Associated Press over the phone Friday.
Lewis’ younger brother, Rahsaan Lewis, wrote on Instagram, “Really can’t believe I’m even typing this, but RIP big brother.”
Despite his father’s fame as an NFL star and Pro Football Hall of Famer, James remembers Lewis as a level-headed young man who worked hard and never pretended to be superior to others.
“I think by the time we got him, he was ready for the business of going to school and finishing and playing football and being an impact (player),” he added. “He was a hard worker.”
Lewis played 12 games as cornerback for Coastal Carolina, recording 19 tackles. He recorded 37 tackles for Virginia Union in 2017.
