Ex-NFL star Glenn dies in car wreck
DALLAS — Former NFL receiver Terry Glenn, who caught Tom Brady’s first touchdown pass with the Patriots in 2001, died Monday following a one-vehicle rollover traffic accident near Dallas that left his fiancée slightly hurt, officials said. He was 43.
Glenn died shortly before 1 a.m. at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, according to the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office. Irving police are investigating the cause of the wreck at 12:18 a.m. on eastbound Highway 114, said Chelsey Jones, a police department spokesman.
Glenn, a former Ohio State star who lived in the Dallas area, was driving when the vehicle left the highway, struck a concrete barrier and rolled, authorities said. Glenn was ejected.
Jones said Glenn’s fiancée was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries. Her name and further details weren’t released. Jones had no immediate information on whether the couple wore seat belts.
Glenn won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top college receiver in 1995, piling up 1,411 yards and 17 touchdowns in his only year as a starter for Ohio State to set the stage for a pro career. Glenn played 12 seasons in the NFL, from 1996 to 2007, including six with the Patriots, five with the Cowboys and another year with the Packers. He finished his career with 8,823 yards receiving and 44 touchdowns. The Patriots drafted Glenn seventh overall in 1996 when Bill Parcells was coach, and Glenn set an NFL rookie record with 90 catches for a team that reached the Super Bowl, losing to the Packers.
Glenn was suspended from the 2001 team for the playoffs for multiple unexcused absences from practices and meetings.
“I was pretty close with Terry,” said Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who was in his first year as an assistant with the team when Glenn was a rookie. “I think he was, deep down inside a good person with good intentions and a good heart.”
In 2010, Glenn was arrested in Irving for auto theft in what his attorney said was a mix-up over a car rental. A year earlier, he was arrested at an Irving hotel on charges of public intoxication and marijuana possession.
“Terry was someone that we all enjoyed very much in his time with the Cowboys,” owner Jerry Jones said. “He was a gentle and kindhearted young man.”