📡 I'm seeing reports of former Alabama running back, Ahmaad Galloway, having passed away.

[TerryP]

I've seen it mentioned a couple of times on Twitter as well as this post from BOL.

RIP Ahmaad Galloway

RIP Ahmaad Galloway

247sports.com

 

[rick4bama]

@TerryP This is dated March 26 & 27, 2008. did find out that Santonia Beard pass in Feb. of this year.

Former UA linebacker remembered


TUSCALOOSA | When asked what comes to mind when he thinks of Victor Ellis, former University of Alabama teammate Ahmaad Galloway said the obvious: “Best friend.”

Crimson Tide director of sports medicine Bill McDonald called him a “tremendous competitor, all the way to the end.”

Alabama athletics booster Tal Abernathy eventually settled on one word: “Class.”

“Just a class act,” he continued. “If every team in the SEC had 85 Victor Ellises, you would never have [any] problems. He’s the kind of guy who touches people. He’s one in a million. It’s hard to put in words, but class probably describes him best.

“Just a wonderful person to be around.”

The former Alabama linebacker and 2001 team captain died at about 9:30 Tuesday night, less than a year after being diagnosed with medullary renal cell carcinoma, an aggressive kidney-related cancer.

He was 28.

“On behalf of the University of Alabama Athletic Department, I want to express my deepest sympathy and condolences to Victor’s family and loved ones,” athletic Director Mal Moore said in a written statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this time.”

Funeral arrangements for Ellis are pending.

He was one of about 50 people ever to have been diagnosed with the rare form of cancer, which quickly spread throughout his body, including his lungs, chest cavity, pelvis, spine and eventually his heart. Doctors told him in June that he had, at most, probably eight months to live.


“He was always a maximum person,” McDonald said. “He’s the kind of person you always want to have around you.”

Ellis’ health declined rapidly despite chemotherapy treatments at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and he took a final turn for the worse roughly a week ago.

In contrast to their initial shock after Ellis’ diagnosis — Ellis first saw a doctor about a bothersome cough — friends’ sentiments Wednesday ranged from tragedy to inspiration.


“Part of us remembering Vic is to continue to go on,” Galloway said. “He didn’t want anyone to sit still.”

Ellis spent much of the time during his final months at the home of Chattanooga’s Tim and Kathy Miller, with whom he developed a family-like relationship after becoming friends with their daughter, Kristyn. They also helped start the Victor Ellis Assistance Fund for donations, including one from former Alabama football coach Dennis Franchione.

“My wife and I had Victor in our house since about the end of August,” Tim Miller said. “You wouldn’t believe what we’ve learned from this kid. It’s all about everyone else; it’s not about him. We’ve said that he’s very wise beyond his years.

“I’m a much better person for having known him. That’s how Victor Ellis affects you. He was just a magnet for people. You knew he truly cared. I never heard him say a bad thing about anyone.”

Those who knew him best also marveled at how Ellis continued to fight the disease and not be depressed, angry or constantly questioning, “Why me?”

“Just always smiles,” former Alabama quarterback Tyler Watts (1999-2001) said. “He was as pleasant a person as you could possibly be around. He was sharp, handled himself well. He was a classy guy and you’re going to be hard-pressed to find anyone who had a bad first impression of Victor.

“He was very highly thought of.”

“I remember that he was the kind of guy who never had a bad day,” former teammates Todd Bates (2001-04) said. “He was all the time smiling. It could be 110 degrees out there and he was enjoying himself. It takes a special person to be able to brighten up other people’s day, but Vic was that kind of guy.”

That ability to make people relax and feel comfortable helped Ellis land a job with the Alabama Admissions Department as a regional recruiter for North and South Carolina. Friends also described how he would go speak to children, who would be mesmerized in a matter of minutes.


“The one thing I don’t think I’ll ever forget about Victor is just his attitude, his approach to the game and just the smile that was always on his face,” former Alabama coach Mike DuBose told the Chattanooga Times Free Press. “I don’t know that I ever saw him when he was down. I don’t know that I ever saw when he had a disagreeable attitude. He was always very, very positive and upbeat, and we went through some tough seasons.

“He reminded me in so many ways, with the way he handled and carried himself, of Cornelius Bennett, who we had earlier.”

“Victor was a class kid all the way around,” said Alabama linebackers coach Lance Thompson, who was also on the Tide coaching staff in 1999-2000. “He had a great work ethic and was a super human being. It’s tragic when you lose a quality young man like Victor so early in life.”

Ellis and Galloway (running back, 1999-2002) came from military families and met while in the seventh grade in Memphis. Their friendship continued after Ellis moved to Chattanooga and attended Red Bank High School, and it was Ellis who talked Galloway into attending the Capstone together, where they both liked the family-type atmosphere.

“The friendship has been lightning since the word go,” Galloway said. “The dream child, he’s a best friend like no other, and when I say best friend, he’s been a, how can I put this — academic All-SEC performer, a great guy, never met a stranger. If you’ve known him for a month or a 10-year period he always made you feel warm. As a friend, I’ve never had anything that came close to him.”


Galloway and McDonald were with Ellis at Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga on Tuesday night.

“He wasn’t visually aware, but we could tell he was hearing us and he was there with us even though he couldn’t focus on us,” said McDonald.

“I don’t ever remember him not smiling, hardly,” he continued. “That was just his nature and the way he was, and he was always concerned about others. He was just one of those kinds of people you don’t see come around that often.

 

[Crimson&WhiteGecko]

Cancer SUCKS!

May Galloway rest in peace & God be with those whose love was lost with him.

 

[rocknthefreeworld]

@TerryP This is dated March 26 & 27, 2008. did find out that Santonia Beard pass in Feb. of this year.

Former UA linebacker remembered

That was when Victor Ellis died.

Ahmaad was definitely alive after that point as he resigned from coaching Munford High in Munford, TN in 2013 after urinating on the field during a game (twice). Link

His linked in shows that he was still updating it in 2016 and was an English teacher at Memphis Academy of Science & Engineering at that point. Link

I am seeing other reports he has passed recently, but nothing I can find a source for.

 

[rick4bama]

That was when Victor Ellis died.

Ahmaad was definitely alive after that point as he resigned from coaching Munford High in Munford, TN in 2013 after urinating on the field during a game (twice). Link

His linked in shows that he was still updating it in 2016 and was an English teacher at Memphis Academy of Science & Engineering at that point. Link

I am seeing other reports he has passed recently, but nothing I can find a source for.

Thanks, I could find anything but that. Been making some mistakes on her lately.

 

[TerryP]

Been making some mistakes on her lately.

 

[rocknthefreeworld]

Thanks, I could find anything but that. Been making some mistakes on her lately.

Hopefully you bought her some flowers and chocolates, maybe even jewelry, to make up for them.

 

[MunchyOs]

Seems like quite a few guys from the Dubose/Franchione era have died over the last few years. Gone WAY too soon

 

[rocknthefreeworld]

Looks like it was true. I can't find it online but someone I know said they saw his obit in a paper in Pensacola. That's where he has been living recently.

 

[Krimson]

Ahmaad Galloway Passed Away, Alabama Crimson Tide football Player and coach has died

Ahmaad Galloway Death - Alabama Crimson Tide football Player and coach Ahmaad Galloway has sadly passed away. He died on

snbc13.com