Former NFL star Cedric Benson has reportedly died aged 36 after a motorcycle crash on Saturday night.
Benson, a college stand-out who was drafted fourth overall by the Chicago Bears in 2005, was amongst two people to lose their lives in an accident involving a motorcycle and minivan.
According to local station KVUE, emergency services responded to calls of a crash at around 10:20pm in East Austin.
Police say a minivan pulled out of a crossroad and hit the motorcycle as it was driving by, with Benson and a woman in her 30s riding with him pronounced dead at the scene.
Benson's brother, Dominic, posted a grief-filled Facebook status and declared his brother was "gone" in the comments.
Benson was a star performer with the Texas Longhorns, rushing for over 1,000 yards for four straight seasons and winning the Doak Walker Award for the top running back in the country.
He was drafted by the Bears but struggled to make an impact and was released in October 2009.
He went on to join the Cincinnati Bengals, where he enjoyed the best spell of his career with three straight seasons of over 1,000 rushing yards.
He left the Bengals at the end of the 2011 season and had a brief stint with the Green Bay Packers in 2012 before his career came to an end.
Benson rushed for 32 touchdowns in the NFL, amassing over 6,000 yards.
