Former Arkansas, NFL player Petrus dead at 32
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Former offensive lineman Mitch Petrus, a walk-on player at the University of Arkansas who went on to a three-year NFL career that included a Super Bowl win with the New York Giants, has died. He was 32.
Gerone Hobbs, the coroner of Pulaski County, said Petrus died of heat stroke Thursday night at a North Little Rock hospital after working outside that day at his family’s shop near his hometown of Carlisle, which is about 35 miles east of Little Rock.
Like much of the country, Arkansas is in the grips of an intense heat wave. The heat index — the temperature it felt like — in the area where Petrus was working on Thursday was higher than 100 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
Petrus played tight end in high school before switching to fullback and then offensive guard for the Razorbacks. Houston Nutt, who coached Arkansas for 10 seasons, said Petrus took those changes in stride.
“He had this attitude of a little boy waking up for Christmas every day, every time he came to the field,” Nutt told Little Rock TV station KARK on Friday.
During his college career that included All-Southeastern Conference recognition, Petrus played alongside Razorbacks standouts Felix Jones and Darren McFadden, who told KARK he was stunned by Petrus’ death.
“He was a joy to be around. He’d put a smile on anybody’s face, brighten up any room that he walks into,” McFadden said.
Petrus was taken by the Giants in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL draft and appeared in 11 games as a rookie. The Giants won Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis in his second season, beating the New England Patriots 21-17 after going just 9-7 in the regular season. He played six games the following season before being released.
He was picked up by the Patriots and played two games for them before being released. The Tennessee Titans then signed him, and he played two games for them before he was released the following March.
After his NFL career ended, Petrus returned to his home state, where he was well-known and often appeared as a studio analyst and sideline reporter during televised high school football games, sometimes wearing goofy wigs or costumes on camera.