Patriots Announce Passing Of Former Player Leonard Myers

FOXBOROUGH, MA — A member of the New England Patriots' first Super Bowl winning team passed away Friday morning.

The team announced that former cornerback Leonard Myers lost his battle with cancer at the age 38.

“We learned of Leonard’s illness when we invited him back to attend our 15th anniversary celebration of the 2001 Super Bowl Championship team,” Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft said in a statement. “No one was more excited to attend than Leonard, nor more disappointed to inform us that he wasn’t going to be able to make it back as the December date approached. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Leonard’s family, friends and former teammates who are mourning his loss today.”

A graduate of the University of Miami, Myers was picked by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He spent two years in New England and played in 15 games and amassed a total of 17 tackles.

Following his time in New England, Myers played for the New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, Detroit Lions, and Ottawa Renegades of the Canadian Football League.

Most recently, he began to pursue a career in coaching, sparked by a desire to help young athletes pursue the same football dreams he once had. He worked on the coaching staff at Emporia State in Kansas during the 2014 season and served as the wide receivers coach at New Mexico Highlands University in 2015. Myers was also named to the NFPLA Collegiate Bowl coaching staff in 2016.