Allen Aldridge Jr., a former linebacker and long snapper who played eight seasons for two teams in the NFL, has died at the age of 52.
Aldridge, a native of Houston, Texas, died on Sunday evening. No cause of death was immediately revealed.
He started on the 1997 Denver Broncos team which defeated the Green Bay Packers to win Super Bowl XXXII.
In that season’s AFC Championship game, Aldridge made a key interception on Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kordell Stewart in the third quarter of a game that Denver won by three points.
Reflecting on that Super Bowl season to the Houston Chronicle in 2019, Aldridge said, ‘All your dreams were answered.
Former Denver Broncos star Allen Aldridge Jr. has died at the age of 52 of unknown causes
Aldridge was a key contributor to the 1997 Denver Broncos team that won Super Bowl XXXII
After that season, he played four seasons with the Detroit Lions before retiring in 2002
Aldridge was selected by Denver in the second round of the 1994 NFL Draft out of the University of Houston.
Following four seasons and a title in Denver, Aldridge signed with the Detroit Lions as a free agent in 1998.
Aldridge started all but five games across four seasons with the Lions before choosing to sign with the expansion Houston Texans in 2002.
But at the age of 30, he opted to retire after spending just three days in training camp.
Across his NFL career, Aldridge totaled 464 combined tackles, 10.5 sacks, and six forced fumbles with four recoveries.
Aldridge then got into coaching – becoming the head coach at George Bush High School in the Fort Bend Independent School District in Texas in 2008.
