For a player who built an eight-year NFL career on sheer persistence, the sudden end to Josh Mauro’s story at just 35 has left the football community grappling with a loss that feels both premature and profoundly unfair. The Mauro family announced the terrible news on social media with a statement from his father.

“With many tears and broken hearts, yet anchored in the unshakable certainty that our precious Josh Mauro is now healed and made new,” Josh’s father, Greg, wrote on his Facebook account. “Living in the presence of the Lord—we humbly covet your prayers as our family walks through the devastating loss of our amazing son, brother, uncle, grandson, and friend. On Thursday, April 23rd, Josh breathed his last breath on this earth and his first breath in heaven.”

Although Mauro’s cause of death is unknown, there are speculations that he was suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). It’s a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects many football players after retirement. According to a report, NFL players who debuted between 1960 and 2019 had a 4 times higher rate than the general population.

Despite that speculation, the former defensive end’s family has not confirmed anything. The family has also urged for privacy at this testing time and has kept their faith in God. “The Lord has been our strength in this unimaginable moment. Your prayers for continued strength and comfort mean more to us than words could ever express.”

Josh’s father, Greg, also shared several pictures on his social media accounts, reminiscing about his life. In one of them, Josh is sitting with his extended family, beaming happily. Whereas other pictures focus on his standout NFL career and his stint with Stanford, as Josh charted his NFL trajectory. As a player who went undrafted, it wasn’t easy. But with persistence, everything fell in place.

Josh Mauro made a lasting legacy in the NFL despite the odds stacked against him

Mauro’s versatility was evident even in high school, where Rivals rated him the country’s 31st-best weakside defensive end. He was a true utility player, lining up at DE, tight end, and linebacker, and even taking snaps at QB, showcasing his athleticism by notching 80 tackles and 12 sacks in a single season, along with 155 receiving yards. The future looked promising for Mauro, and Stanford also guaranteed him academic excellence. Despite not receiving a scholarship from the school, he joined as a walk-on and gradually became a standout player.

By the time his fifth year came in 2013, Mauro was on the Bednarik Award watch list, won an All-Pac-12 honorable mention, and had totaled 51 tackles along with 4 sacks in that season. Although the teams passed on him at the NFL draft, the Arizona Cardinals bet on Mauro as an undrafted free agent. In no time, Mauro repaid that faith. He wasn’t spectacular, but given his tendency to put himself on the line for his team, he stayed at the Cardinals till 2017.

“The team is bigger than you,” Mauro said in 2016, when he totaled 32 tackles that year. “It’s bigger than you making plays, it’s bigger than getting your name called, it’s bigger than the newspaper having your numbers.”

At 35, Josh Mauro left the world relatively young. But his contributions to the team will echo through the decades. He especially showed selflessness in how he did things and was always ready to contribute to the team in any way required.

“Prayers go out to Josh Mauro and his family,” Adrian Wilson, who worked in the Cardinals’ front office, wrote on X. “Had the opportunity to be around Josh for several years with BA. Always in shape, always ready to go wherever he got that call. One of the things I respected most about him was that you could depend on him.”

Josh went to the New York Giants, followed by a single-year stint with the Oakland Raiders. His love for the Cardinals finally brought him back to the team in 2020. There, he spent his remaining NFL career and retired in 2021. “We are heartbroken to learn of the passing of Josh Mauro,” the Cardinals wrote in Mauro’s remembrance.