People are supposed to live their lives and grow old. When young people are called from this earth, it never seems fair, or get an explanation as to why they were robbed of decades.
Former Arizona Cardinals defensive end Josh Mauro passed away on April 23 at his home in Tempe, Arizona. We all know this. He was just 35 years old.
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Now, the Medical Examiner of the Maricopa (AZ) County Office, Dr. Jeffrey Johnston, has announced his findings
of how Mauro passed away. The original report stated Mauro’s death was accidental but did not give a cause at that time.
Dr. Johnston’s findings reveal Mauro died from an acute combination of fentanyl, cocaine, and ethanol intoxication. The report still classifies his death as accidental.
The Cardinals issued a statement:
“We are heartbroken to learn of the passing of Josh Mauro. Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and all who knew him. We extend our deepest condolences to everyone grieving this loss.”
Despite a stellar college career at Stanford, Mauro went undrafted in 2014 and signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He had a good training camp, but was a last-day release. The 6’-6”, 290-pound defensive end signed a deal with the Cardinals and played five games as a rookie.
He played four seasons with the Cardinals from 2014 to 2017, and then from 2020 to 2021. His best season was 2016, when he played in 15 games with 13 starts and had 32 total tackles.
Mauro played a season with the New York Football Giants and Oakland Raiders, and was briefly on the practice squad of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He played in 80 NFL games with 40 starts, and had five career sacks coupled with 130 tackles.
In 2020, Mauro was suspended for the first five games of the season for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drugs policy.
No other information is available at this time.
