Firefighters Respond to Unresponsive Ex-NFL Running Back in a Tampa, Florida Motel Room
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Former Auburn University and NFL running back George Peoples was found dead Sunday in a Tampa motel room. He was 43.
No cause of death was announced, and members of Peoples' family, reached at their Tampa home, declined comment Sunday night.
Police said Peoples was staying at the motel where he was found. Firefighters forced entry into the room after motel officials were unable to reach Peoples and became suspicious.
He was last seen alive Saturday, police said. The medical examiner's office is investigating the death.
Peoples spent three seasons in the NFL, the last 1984 with the Tampa Bay Bucs.
Peoples ran track and played college football at Auburn, where he received the team's offensive player of the year award in 1981. He was chosen in the eighth round of the 1982 NFL draft by Dallas.
He spent 1983 with New England, then signed with Tampa Bay as a backup fullback with six games left in the 1984 season. He was in training camp with the Bucs in 1985, but was cut just before the regular season began.
