{"id":747485,"date":"2026-02-12T17:29:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T17:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/747485\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T17:29:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T17:29:21","slug":"former-detroit-lions-star-tracy-scroggins-has-died-at-56","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/747485\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Detroit Lions star Tracy Scroggins has died at 56"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Detroit Lions star defensive end\/linebacker Tracy Scroggins has died. He was 56 years old.<\/p>\n

Scroggins spent all 10 of his NFL seasons with the Lions after being drafted by Detroit in the second round of the 1992 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Tracy Scroggins,\u201d the family said in a statement to TMZ<\/a>. \u201cTracy was a devoted father, cherished family member, and loyal friend whose life was marked by remarkable strength and perseverance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile many knew him for his career as a professional football player in the NFL, those closest to him knew him as a kind-hearted and generous man who cared deeply for his family and friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scroggins retired in 2001 after recording 60.5 sacks across 142 games in his NFL<\/a> career.<\/p>\n

“We join the NFL community in mourning the loss of Lions Legend Tracy Scroggins, who played his entire 10-year career in Detroit (1992-2001),” the Lions said<\/a> in a statement.<\/p>\n

Tracy Scroggins died on Monday, Feb. 9, according to his obituary<\/a>. <\/p>\n

An Oklahoma native, Scroggins attended Checotah High School and played football, basketball and track. He then starred at Tulsa before being a second-round NFL draft pick.<\/p>\n

During his 10 seasons with the Lions, Scroggins\u2019 best year came in 1995 when he recorded 44 tackles, 9.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.<\/p>\n

Scroggins\u2019 family said in its statement to TMZ that he dealt with issues related to CTE from playing in the NFL. The family believes CTE ultimately led to his death.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying in the NFL gave Tracy the opportunity to pursue his lifelong dream and to rise from poverty. However, unfortunately, the NFL was also ultimately the cause of his untimely demise,\u201d the statement said. \u201cTracy spent every moment of retirement courageously battling the devastating effects of CTE. While our hearts are heavy, we find comfort in knowing that he is finally at peace.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Detroit Lions star defensive end\/linebacker Tracy Scroggins has died. He was 56 years old. Scroggins spent all…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":747486,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[265,36013,3126,146,113,2506,7,2118,147,122,6,27478,39130,107336],"class_list":{"0":"post-747485","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-lions","8":"tag-american-football","9":"tag-arc776084610","10":"tag-defensive-lineman","11":"tag-detroit","12":"tag-detroit-lions","13":"tag-detroitlions","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-jersey","16":"tag-lions","17":"tag-national-football-league","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-throwback","20":"tag-throwback-uniform","21":"tag-tracey"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116058847086395618","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=747485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/747486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=747485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=747485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=747485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}