For the most part, text messaging has been a complete game-changer when it comes to communication. Forget writing a long letter or even jamming out a complete email…all you have to do is type a few words and then send that message directly to your intended recipient. Even better, this creates a kind of digital paper trail, which is helpful when you want to revisit an older conversation or simply confirm what the other person said.
However, one of the side effects of this technology is that we can easily look up the last words someone texted before they died. This can be good if it provides some closure, but the whole thing can feel a bit spooky as you read the final words that might just haunt you. That’s especially true in the world of professional athletes, where some of the top players in sports history sent heartbreaking texts shortly before they died.
Just what top athletes sent haunting final texts, and what did they actually write? Keep reading to find out!
Kobe Bryant just wanted to help
While 2020 was full of crazy moments, many of them related to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, nothing was quite as shocking as the sudden death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant. He died in a helicopter crash that claimed the lives of seven other people, including his 13-year-old daughter. This would have been devastating if it had happened to anybody, but watching it happen to a five-time NBA championship winner felt downright surreal.
Just who was Bryant texting before his death? According to his widow, Vanessa, the Los Angeles Lakers legend had been trying to help out a family friend. Specifically, Bryant was texting was Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, encouraging him to set the daughter of John Altobelli up with a basketball scout. You see, that daughter (Alyssa Altobelli) and Bryant’s daughter Gianna had once played on the same team.
Unfortunately, Gianna was on the helicopter with her father and died in the crash. John Altobelli was also in the helicopter, meaning that Bryant’s final words are downright haunting!
Anthony Johnson hyped up a fellow fighter
To this day, the death of Anthony Johnson doesn’t feel real. He was a UFC fighter who could knock out grown men with a single punch, and other fighters were downright terrified to get into the cage with him. Tragically, the fighter was struck down in his prime, dying at the relatively tender age of 38. He ultimately died to an invisible foe: organ failure that came as a result of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.
What was Johnson’s final text? Fellow UFC fighter Corey Anderson later claimed that he received one of Johnson’s last text messages. Anderson was nervous about an upcoming bout, and Johnson was giving him some encouragement: “Yo, keep your hands up, no mistakes,” Johnson wrote. “I don’t see this guy beating you, bro. It’s your fight.” While these words of encouragement are very powerful, it’s downright heartbreaking to imagine Anthony Johnson taking the time to lift other fighters up shortly before he was killed by a foe that he would never be able to face in the cage.
John Madden was celebrating himself
John Madden is one of those few NFL legends who has entire generations of fans. Some of the older fans remember his time as a coach, where he gave killer advice to players for the Oakland Raiders, whom he led to a Super Bowl victory. After that, Madden became the first sports broadcaster featured on all four major networks. Eventually, he loaned his name out to various football video games, and to this day, “John Madden” is synonymous with “great game” to gamers everywhere.
Compared to some of the athletic legends on this list, Madden’s final text was surreal and even a bit morbidly funny. He had been texting a friend named Richie Zyontz, who wished Madden a happy wedding anniversary and then told him that his recent documentary should have been longer to cover the commentator’s storied career. “Thanks,” Madden wrote. “Everyone says it should have been longer.” These were the last words he texted before dying at the age of 85, leaving countless fans wishing that his life had been longer and that they had better appreciated him when he was alive.
Steve McNair actually texted his killer
Out of all the athletes on here, Steve McNair didn’t have the craziest life, but he definitely had the craziest death. Shortly before his death, the NFL quarterback had been texting Sahel Kazemi, a girlfriend. She was asking for $2,000 to pay her phone bill, and they made plans to meet up that very night. McNair confirmed that he transferred the money, and she asked him to leave his condo open so she could come in.
However, when she arrived, she was angry over another woman McNair might have been romantically involved with. She took this anger out on McNair, killing him before taking her own life. Needless to say, this death shocked the entire world: not only did McNair die in one of the scariest possible ways, but his life was taken by someone that he had just saved from thousands of dollars in bills!