Ryan Keeler Obituary, United States, Former Football Standout At Nazareth Academy, Has Died

Ryan Keeler Obituary, Death- According to the findings of an autopsy, Ryan Keeler, a former football star at Nazareth Academy in La Grange Park who passed away in February while attending the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, suffered from a heart issue.

Keeler passed away in Las Vegas. Keeler, who was 20 years old and played defensive line for UNLV, had recently finished his first year as a redshirt freshman. After the 2021 season at Rutgers University, he decided to transfer to UNLV, where he ended up playing in seven games and recording a total of eight tackles the next year.

In February of that year, he was discovered unresponsive in his studio apartment in Las Vegas. On Tuesday, the office of the Clark County Coroner made the announcement that it had concluded Keeler passed away due to natural causes. According to Stephanie Wheatley, a representative for the coroner’s office, Keeler passed away as a result of cardiac dysrhythmia caused by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is essentially a lethal arrythmia caused by thickening of the heart muscle. “We join the community and members of UNLV Athletics in mourning the loss of this rising football star and send our condolences to Ryan’s family and friends,” said the statement. “We join the community in mourning the loss of this rising football star.”

Keeler was selected for Academic All-Mountain West honors and had a grade point average of 3.80 in pre-business courses. After Keeler’s passing in February, first-year UNLV football head coach Barry Odom expressed his devastation at the loss of a member of the Rebel family.

“We are devastated to have lost a member of our Rebel family,” he said. “Despite the fact that I had the privilege of knowing Ryan for only a few months, he immediately stood out to our coaching staff as an amazing guy, student, and teammate. We are grieving alongside Ryan’s family over the tremendous loss they have suffered, and we send our sincere condolences and prayers their way.

In the month of February, Noel Brennan from CBS 2 had a conversation with Tim Racki, Keeler’s former coach at Nazareth Academy. Racki, who is 6 feet 6 inches tall, referred to the player as a “gentle giant.” Racki remarked that the individual possessed “a tremendous talent on this field.” “That was plainly visible to everyone who cared to look. What you failed to notice was how large his heart was when he was away from the field. In 2018, Keeler guided the Nazareth Academy Roadrunners to the state championship, which they won.