Former NFL defensive lineman Josh Mauro died from an acute combination of fentanyl, cocaine, and ethanol intoxication, says a new report from the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner. Mauro died on April 23rd at the age of 35, with the death being classified as accidental.
Mauro played eight seasons in the NFL, six with the Arizona Cardinals across two stints (2014-17 and 2020-21), and one each with the New York Giants (2018) and the then-Oakland Raiders (2019). He spent one season with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2020) but didn’t play. He was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2014, but was cut ahead of the start of the season. The Cardinals released the following statement some days after his death last month:
“We are heartbroken to learn of the passing of Josh Mauro,” the Cardinals said in a statement April 28. “Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and all who knew him. We extend our deepest condolences to everyone grieving this loss.”
At the college level, Josh Mauro played with the Stanford Cardinal in the Pac-12. His last NFL season was in 2021. Through his entire professional career, Mauro played in 80 NFL games, starting 40, and recorded a total of five career sacks.
What was Josh Mauro’s best season?
Mauro’s best season in his career came in 2016, his third in the NFL, when he played in 15 games, 13 of them as a starter. That season, he would finish with 32 tackles. He would continue to have significant play time as he played with Arizona, and during his time with New York and Oakland. However, after his stint with the Jaguars, where he didn’t participate at all with them in the 2020 season, his stock would come down.
He played only three games with the Cardinals in 2020, having been released by the Jaguars, and in his final season at Arizona in 2021, he only played in five games.
That year was marked by an incident in which he was suspended by the league for the first five games of the season for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drugs policy on August 21, 2020. When he was reinstated in October, the Jaguars placed him on the reserve/COVID-19 list and released him a few days later. Then he was signed by the Arizona Cardinals off the Jaguars’ practice squad.
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