O.J. Murdock, a wide receiver for the Tennessee Titans, was found dead in Tampa Bay, Florida. Police have said that he was killed by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Murdock was 25-years-old. Murdock was found in his vehicle, which was in front of Middleton High School, where he was once a student, according to the police report. The vehicle was found at 8:30 a.m. and Murdock was taken in critical condition to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:43 a.m.
Murdock did not report to Titans training camp last week and when head coach Mike Munchak was asked why he replied that Murdock was not there because of ‘personal reasons.’ Murdock spent all of last season on the Titans injured reserve list after suffering an injury to his Achilles tendon during training camp. He was signed by the team as an undrafted free agent.
“We are shocked and saddened to hear of O.J. Murdock’s death this morning,” the team said in a statement posted on its website. “In his brief time here, a number of our players, coaches and staff had grown close to O.J., and this is a difficult time for them. He spent the last year battling back from an Achilles injury as he prepared for this year’s training camp. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends as they try to cope with this tragedy.”