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Louisville safety P.J. Blue (13) warms up prior to the Camping World Kickoff game
Former Louisville football player P.J. Blue has died, the school announced on Tuesday, April 8.
"We are saddened by the passing of Cardinal Forever P.J. Blue. Our thoughts are with his loved ones," the official Louisville Cardinals football Instagram and X accounts posted.
Blue was 27. A cause of death was not immediately made available.
Tributes have begun pouring in for Blue from friends and family. Former teammate Leek Stapes shared a photo of himself with Blue on the Cardinals team and said he "still" can't believe his friend has passed.
"Feels like yesterday when we came in 2016," Stapes wrote.
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Keith Towbridge, a former tight end at Louisville who also played for the Buffalo Bills, posted, "Rest Easy PJ. You were one of the good ones man."
According to the Courier-Journal, Blue was a standout high school athlete, ranking as the No. 17 player among students in Alabama graduating in 2016. He was also named an Under Armour All-American athlete and U.S. Army All-American nominee, per Fox News, and was put on the All-Metro first team at Park Cross High School before committing to Louisville.
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In memory of PJ Blue
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Blue struggled with injuries, tearing his ACL soon after committing to Louisville. During his time with the Cardinals, Blue recorded 39 tackles in 11 games.
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A 2016 interview in the Courier-Journal with Louisville defensive coordinator Todd Grantham shows that the coaching staff was "excited" to have Blue join the team. "Anytime you can get big guys who can run and hit, you're going to be good on defense. He's a guy who has length, has size, has the ability to run. He has position flexibility."
Defensive backs coach Cort Dennison told the Courier-Journal that Blue was "intelligent" and "tough" and that he looked like one of the "most comfortable" freshmen on defense at the time.
Grantham told the outlet he believed that Blue had "a bright future."
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