University of Texas linebacker Jake Ehlinger was found dead off campus Thursday, Austin, Texas-based NBC affiliate KXAN reports. He was 20.
The Austin Police Department received a call reporting a death at 12:18 p.m. Thursday. While authorities wouldn’t disclose how the body was found, they were able to confirm that the person was Jake, the younger brother of former Texas Longhorns quarterback Sam Ehlinger.
Jake’s death comes less than a week after Sam was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the sixth round of this year’s draft. They were together when Ehlinger answered the call from Colts general manager Chris Ballard informing him that he was headed to Indianapolis.
After his selection, the NFL Network accidentally showed a photo of Jake, but his older brother took it all in stride, joking with reporters, “Jake deserves all the screen time you can get.” Stephen Holder of The Athletic reports Ehlinger has left Colts’ rookie camp and returned to Austin.
Their father Ross died in 2013 from an apparent heart attack while competing in a triathlon in San Francisco. He was 46. Ross was a Texas alum, and according to Pro Football Talk, Jake and Sam believed they were honoring their father’s memory by playing for the Longhorns. When they finally got the chance to take the field together as teammates, Sam commented that it was a moment “we’ve been dreaming of that our whole lives.”
