Chris Payton-Jones, a defensive back who played parts of four NFL seasons for four different teams, died April 11 in a car accident. He was 30.
News 4 Jacksonville reported that Payton-Jones was the only person killed when his sedan collided head-on with a pickup truck traveling in the opposite direction in Alachua County, Florida near 11:45 p.m.
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The three people in the pickup truck suffered only minor injuries, according to the report.
Payton-Jones was a standout cornerback at the University of Nebraska, where he was named All-Big Ten honorable mention in 2016. He missed the first half of his senior season with a knee injury, and was not selected in the 2018 NFL Draft.
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The Lions signed Payton-Jones as an undrafted free agent in April 2018, but cut him on Sept. 1, 2018 at the end of training camp.
Two days later, the Arizona Cardinals signed Payton-Jones to their practice squad. He would go on to appear in two regular season games as a reserve in 2018, before appearing 11 games — including his first three NFL starts — for Arizona in 2019.
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From 2020-22, Payton-Jones bounced around the league, signing with four teams: the Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Tennessee Titans and Las Vegas Raiders.
Payton-Jones saw action in 16 regular season games from 2020-21, but was mostly relegated to practice squad work. He finished his NFL career with 48 tackles and seven passes defended in 29 games.
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From 2022-24, Payton-Jones played for the Seattle SeaDragons (XFL) and St. Louis Battlehawks (UFL). He also ran a YouTube channel under the Flashflix brand that highlighted local sports in Jacksonville, Florida.
Payton-Jones had recently announced his retirement from football.
Adam Geis, Payton-Jones’ coach at Sandalwood High School in Jacksonville, Florida, praised his former pupil.
“He was one of my all-time favorites!” Geis told News 4 Jacksonville. “The kid never missed a workout, never missed practice, and never wanted to come off the field. Everyone loved him,” Geis said. “He was always unbelievably positive. I’ve never heard that kid ever say anything negative about anyone or anything. … It was always a pleasure to be around him. You were always happy to see him.”
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