Former NFL wide receiver Terry Beasley, who remains Auburn University’s all-time leading receiver, has died. He was 73.
Beasley’s death is being investigated as a possible suicide, per Alabama.com.
“Officers were dispatched to his residence around 5:20pm tonight,” Moody Police Chief Reece Smith said on Thursday. “He was found deceased inside the residence from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. This case is still under investigation and our thoughts are with the Beasley family at this time.”
Beasley played alongside Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Pat Sullivan while at Auburn, compiling 141 receptions for school records of 2,507 yards and 29 touchdowns from 1968-71. He then played with the San Francisco 49ers from 1972-75.
AL.com reports:
Beasley was born in Montgomery and played at Auburn from 1968 to 1971 alongside Heisman trophy-winning quarterback Pat Sullivan. Beasley was drafted in the first round of the 1972 NFL Draft and played from 1972-1975 with the San Francisco 49ers.
Paired with Sullivan, Beasley made up one half of “one of college football’s greatest pass combinations,” the National Football Foundation writes of Beasley, who was inducted into the National Football Foundation’s Hall of Fame in 2002.
As a freshman in 1968, Beasley played on Auburn’s freshman team, before being able to join Auburn’s varsity team the next season.
As a sophomore in 1969, Beasley hauled in 34 receptions for 610 yards and six touchdowns. Come his junior year, Beasley established himself as Auburn’s leading receiver, catching 52 receptions for 1,051 yards and 11 scores.
