The parents of late Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. said they're holding a separate funeral for their son, revealing that they've never met his wife.
“We have never met or spoken to the wife [Kalabrya Haskins] and we didn’t want our son’s funeral service to be the place we met her for the first time," Tamara and Dwayne Haskins Sr. told WUSA9 in a joint statement on Friday (April 22).
On April 13, Kalabrya Haskins announced "a celebration of Dwayne's life" would be held at the Allegheny Center Alliance Church in Pittsburgh on April 22.
Haskins' parents have planned separate services for the same weekend to share their son's memory with family, coaches, teammates, and childhood friends with funeral services planned in New Jersey -- where the quarterback was born and raised until high school -- on Saturday (April 23) and a memorial service on Sunday (April 24) at their son's high school alma mater, Bullis School, in Potomac, Maryland.
"We have had such an overwhelming outpouring of love for our son since the news broke of our loss," said Tamara and Dwayne Haskins, Sr. "Anyone who knew Dwayne knows he worked exceptionally hard to achieve such a high level of success at such a young age. He was touched by so many people on his journey to being a standout athlete and we are grateful to all of them. This pain is unimaginable and we appreciate everyone who shares in our heartbreak."
ESPN's Adam Schefter initially reported Haskins, a decorated collegiate quarterback at Ohio State and former first-round pick, was reportedly "hit by a car in South Florida," citing Haskins' agent Cedric Saunders on April 9.
Schefter said Haskins "was training in South Florida with other Steelers" quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers "when he got hit by a vehicle."
Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Lt. Indiana Miranda confirmed Haskins was killed after being struck by a dump truck.
Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert -- who recently announced his decision to step down from his position after the 2022 NFL Draft -- confirmed the Steelers plans tender Haskins prior to his scheduled restricted free agency at the beginning of the offseason and prior to the team bringing in Mitchell Trubisky.
Haskins was cut by the now-Washington Commanders after being demoted for the second time during the 2020 season in December 2020, 20 months after the franchise selected the former Ohio State standout at No. 15 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft.
The former Ohio State standout signed with the Steelers in December 2020 and said he was looking to prove his love of football in 2021, playing behind veteran starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who praised the backup for having one of the "prettiest" throwing mechanics he's ever seen.
“I was just telling [new Steelers quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan] the other day that his release and throwing motion mechanics are some of the prettiest I have ever seen,” Roethlisberger said of Haskins during offseason workouts via TribLIVE. “I told him I wish I had that. I joked that he could throw it through a car wash, and it wouldn’t get wet.”
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