Former Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Jordan Devey has died, his wife said in a social media post Thursday night. He was 38.
Linsey Devey shared the news on Instagram and included the message that his last words to her were, “We’ll talk soon.” In her post, she wrote, “Today would have been our 15th year anniversary,” and added, “We have filled the walls of our homes and hearts with countless memories, joys, struggles, and triumphs.
“We brought 4 beautiful children into this world that have your eyes, freckles, and compassion. You were our hero and our hearts ache in your absence.
“We love you. We miss you. And as you said in your last words to me, ‘we’ll talk soon.’”
According to a GoFundMe website to which Linsey linked, Devey took his own life.
Devey’s path to the NFL had some unusual turns. As a child, he dealt with Osgood-Schlatter disease, a painful knee condition that kept him away from football for years after eighth grade.
While he was sidelined, he picked up the tuba instead and eventually joined the American Fork High School marching band in Utah, a group that performed at President George W. Bush’s Inaugural Parade in 2005.
That musical background became part of his football story, too, because his tuba skills made him stand out around every NFL team he played for.
After high school, Devey spent two years in Costa Rica as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When his knee problems eased, the 6-foot-7, 250-pound lineman walked on at Snow College in Utah and later finished at the University of Memphis before entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2013.
He spent time with six NFL teams - the Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers, Raiders and Chiefs. He was with the Patriots when they won the Super Bowl in 2015, and he signed with the Chiefs in 2016.
After football, Devey and his family lived for a time in Johnson County, where he and his business partners opened two now-closed locations of California-based Cookie Co. in 2023. At the time, he told The Star, “Kansas City loves Kansas City,” and added, “There’s so many big things going on here.”
Devey also became known as a youth football coach in Eagle, Idaho, and the response to his death quickly reflected how many people he had reached there. The Eagle Stallions football team posted a tribute on Instagram, writing, “There are people who leave a legacy far greater than wins and losses. Jordan Devey was one of those people,” and calling him “an incredible mentor, coach, and friend.”
Robert Gillis, a member of the Eagle City Council, also wrote on Facebook about meeting Devey in May during a city council hearing involving a developer and family seeking approval for a large home build in the Avimor area. Gillis said he later learned the hopeful homeowner was Eagle High School Football Coach Jordan Devey.
He described him as “a very big strong healthy looking man who was very respectful and likeable,” and said, “I was extremely sad to get the phone calls and texts last night, which notified me that Coach Devey had died ... I am a huge advocate for mental health and wellness.”
In his post, Gillis added, “We never know the internal demons and stressors that people in our sphere are facing. They can put on happy faces and act as though they have everything handled, and then something like this occurs.”
He also wrote, “Suicide has no boundaries and it has unfortunately touched a lot of lives in our country, state, valley, and city. It is something we may not be able to prevent, but we have to do better to keep trying. Every life is worth saving.”
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