Chance Waz, Former Baylor Football Player, Dead at 25

Chance Waz, a former Baylor football player who played the safety position, has died, the school announced on Monday. He was 25 years old. The cause of death has not been announced.

“Heartbroken. Forever a member of the Baylor Family,” the team wrote on Twitter with a photo of Waz. Once Baylor made the announcement, several of Waz’s teammates went to social media to pay tribute to him. One of the players who reacted to the news was former Baylor quarterback Seth Russell who tried out for a few NFL teams before retiring from football in 2017.

“No words will be able to explain the loss of a teammate, friend, family, brother is [sic] Christ,” Russell tweeted. “Chance always had a positive attitude towards life. Prayers are lifted high for the Waz family in this time of mourning and celebration of his life.” Waz played for Baylor from 2014-2017. As a freshman, Waz played in 11 of 13 games during the 2014 season and helped the team win the co-Big 12 Championship. In 2015, Waz would make 11 starts and then start eight games in 2016. He played in nine games during his senior season in 2017, which was the first year for head coach Matt Rhule, who is now the head coach of the Carolina Panthers. In his career at Baylor, Waz recorded 146 tackles, six pass breakups and a fumble recovery in 43 games.

Before joining Baylor, Waz earned a three-star rating from 247Sports and was listed as the No. 115 safety in the nation in the 2014 recruiting class. He played high school football at Hendrickson High School in Pflugerville, Texas, and was named first-team all-district and All-Central Texas during his junior year.

“Chance [Waz] was a guy that lit up a room, Chance was a guy with high energy all the time, stayed positive in every situation and just wanted us to be the best we can be,” former Baylor OL Mo Porter said via Twitter. “Chance was a guy that would always tell you what you meant to him.”