ESPN insiders reveal details on circumstances surrounding Dwayne Haskins’ death

The news of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins’ sudden death shook the football world. On SportsCenter Saturday morning, ESPN insiders provided insight on the circumstances surrounding his passing.

ESPN insider Adam Schefter and Steelers reporter Brooke Pryor both confirmed Haskins was down in South Florida training with other Pittsburgh players for the upcoming season. Schefter said while the police haven’t released a full report yet, it sounds like Haskins pulled over on the highway and got hit by an oncoming car.

“My understanding is he pulled alongside the highway for some reason, got out of his car and at that point in time, he got hit by another car,” Schefter said. “So this is a tragic situation here that’s unfolding. The word is spreading across the National Football League. People are shocked, saddened and devastated about the loss of a great player at Ohio State, a former first-round pick in Washington.

“And now, obviously, now people are reacting, and it’s very sad down in South Florida because nobody could ever expect something like this. Terrible news. And again, there’ll be more details in the police report, but it doesn’t change the fact that a great young man at the age of 24 lost his life.”

Pryor, speaking on an earlier SportsCenter segment on ESPN, said the trip to Florida was organized by Mitch Trubisky, who signed a contract to become the heir apparent to Ben Roethlisberger. She said the plan was to train in Florida and do some team bonding, as well.

“They all went down there for a weekend that was supposed to be working out together, throwing passes and just kind of a team bonding weekend,” Pryor said. “I’ve been told that [Haskins] was with teammates up until just before this occurred. They were all down there together. He posted a video on Instagram yesterday of he and Najee Harris looking like they were dressed up and about to go out on the town after a day of working out. But this was supposed to be another step of building together as a team in the offseason.

“I think it speaks volumes that this was organized by a new Steelers quarterback and he invited Dwayne Haskins to come down there, someone who’s already on the roster who he could have conceivably been competing against for a starting job.”