The Arizona Cardinals spoke as a collective on Wednesday regarding the death of a teammate. Cornerback Jeff Gladney died in a car accident at age 25 early Monday morning in Dallas.
The team broke into offense and defense and then into position rooms to continue the conversation.
Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said Gladney had been at the facility for a couple of months and he had gotten to know the young player very well.
Gladney was acquired in March, and Joseph said the defensive backs room was hit hard by the loss.
Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury wanted everyone to know a bit more about Gladney on Wednesday.
"Kliff did a phenomenal job of addressing his story, his journey, which I think was needed," right tackle Kelvin Beachum said. "Not everybody's story is actually talked about in any fashion.
"For the family, the Cardinals are gonna do everything they can to support, but at the end of the day, there are a lot of people that are involved, that experienced tragedy earlier this week."
Beachum did not get to know Gladney, but felt connected to him since they both came from small towns in Texas and rose to become NFL players. Gladney was from New Boston, near the border of Arkansas and Oklahoma.
Joseph said that players are close in the NFL with ties from Pop Warner to high school and college and playing each other in the pros. Beachum echoed that, saying it is hard to lose someone from the NFL community.
Kingsbury wanted an open conversation for players to speak what they were feeling and comfort each other.
He said it hoped it gave them perspective on life.
"It's hard to handle," Kingsbury said. "But I think that definitely gives all our players a perspective on just how precious life is. I know a lot of guys want to make sure they live it the right way, because you never know."
A theme with the Cardinals' players was cherishing loved ones and not being afraid to speak their feelings and appreciation.
Wide receiver Rondale Moore said the team was planning a gathering Wednesday night to bond.
"Spend some time with each other, I think important, kind of show your loved ones how much you love them to tell them every day that you love them," Moore said. "Spending time with everyone because you just never know with life, with how it's gonna pan out.
"My heart goes out to him and I think today we're just kind of spending the day showing each other how much we do love each other and just be around each other and be there for one another."
Joseph was hit hard thinking about Gladney's family. As a father himself, he said the phone call that one's child died is a nightmare and he expressed that his first thoughts were with the families of Gladney and Andrea Mercedes Palacios, who also died in the accident.
He pointed out that former quarterback Dwayne Haskins, who died at 25-years-old in April, and said there needs to be changes made to address these tragedies and find ways of prevention.
"It's been two players in the last last month, same age, something's got to change," Joseph said. "So, coaches, the parents, all of us are responsible for this stuff, and we gotta help fix it."
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