Steelers WR Coach Darryl Drake Passes Away

https://twitter.com/WPXI/status/1160563159058571264?s=19

Very sad news. Anyone know what happened?

All team activities at Training Camp are cancelled today.

https://twitter.com/chasepwilliams/status/1160569317861318657?s=19

There was a Tweet by someone that said the cause is undetermined. Can't find it now.

Wow. Sad news.

RIP coach.

How sad. I'm at a loss for words except my heart goes out to his family.

Terrible news, my thoughts are with his family and friends.

Sad news. Everything I've read says that he was a stand up guy.

I bet that WR group is going to be extra motivated to play well this year. Between the AB departure, the doubts, and now the passing..... They have plenty to light their fire.

I believe that I had read that the autopsy came out and didn't show anything out of the ordinary.

Awful, and an unexpected gut punch for his friends and family. He wasn't a spring chicken, but he wasn't that old either.

Sounds like a great man by all accounts I've read. Steeler Nation lost a good one.

More about Drake's passing, and the Steelers return to practice at the link. Of note:

At yesterday's practice, Ray Sherman (former OC for the Steelers) and offensive assistant Blaine Stewart were coaching the WRs.

https://247sports.com/nfl/pittsburgh-steelers/Article/Pittsburgh-Steelers-marching-on-with-heavy-hearts-134427798/Amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Ben and Juju on a bench sitting in the rain. The human part of football.

@SteelersYak wrote:

Ben and Juju on a bench sitting in the rain. The human part of football.

I'd imagine this season will be dedicated to the memory of Coach Drake. I'm not surprised to see the 2 of them obviously morning. Especially Ju Ju because so far he has demonstrated that in addition to being a future franchise WR he is also a compassionate leader in the making.

You are right YAK. There is a human side that as fans we don't see much of. From everything I've read Coach Drake was as fine a man as he was a coach. He touched a lot of lives.

I think they should think about a special spot in the HOF for cases just like this.

I got tears in my eyes reading this:

https://www.dkpittsburghsports.com/2019/08/14/photos-steelers-juju-smith-schuster-james-washington-darryl-drake-ryan-switzer-ms/

Years ago I was working at a job site in Dallas and we had a man killed. It happened on a Friday. My boss had informed me that morning that come Monday I would be working to fix the issue that caused the accident. Instead we were meeting with grief counselors and OSHA.

So in a way I can feel their pain except he was more than a work mate. He was a Brother,Father figure and Friend to all of these guys from the Offense to the Defense. Seeing those pictures tells a lot of the story.

@solardave wrote:

Years ago I was working  at a job site in Dallas and we had a man killed. It happened on a Friday. My boss had informed me that morning that come Monday I would be working to fix the issue that caused the accident. Instead we were meeting with grief counselors and OSHA.

So in a way I can feel their pain except he was more than a work mate. He was a Brother,Father figure and Friend to all of these guys from the Offense to the Defense. Seeing those  pictures tells a lot of the story.

We lost an Officer at my work about 5-6 years ago roughly. I wasn't very close with him or anything, but we used to talk sports. He was a Chiefs fan so we were always talking football. Very kind-hearted, soft-spoken guy. Way too young as well, had a wife and kids. We both started at the Sheriff's Office around the same time, so we actually went to "Jail School" together. So I gave his wife a nice card, with a picture of our graduating class in it.

Sucks to lose people you care about.