Former Texas A&M football star Toya Jones has died at the age of 49.
“Today is a very difficult day for me and so many others. I have to say goodbye to one of my closest friends for more than 20 years,” former MLB pitcher and close friend Randy Keisler wrote via Facebook on Thursday, October 22. “Toya, you were the funniest guy I’ve ever known and your personality was one of a kind. Your positive outlook on life, your smile, sense of humor and always making anyone around you laugh and feel better just being with you was an awesome gift that you possessed.”
Keisler, 50, continued, “I could be down and out and you would make me laugh or somehow just feel better with your infectious smile and sense of humor. I love you brother, and it’s a shame that the world is losing you today.”
According to the Houston Chronicle, Jones died on Thursday after being placed in hospice care one day earlier.
An official cause of death has yet to be revealed, but the publication reported that Jones suffered a heart attack last weekend.
Jones played defensive back at Texas A&M from 1995 to 1998. His senior season was the last time the Aggies won a conference title.
He also was part of the university’s track team, where he was a sprinter and a long jumper.
“They say the good die young and Toya was definitely one of the good ones. A 31-year-old friendship taken away at the blink of an eye,” Jones’ teammate Sirr Parker wrote via Facebook on Thursday. “My college roommate, my teammate, my friend and my brother was one of the greatest guys you’d meet, with a smile that could light up the room and a personality that kept us all laughing. He was always unapologetically Toya and that’s what made him unique.”
Jones went on to play two seasons in the CFL and a season in the XFL after his college career at Texas A&M.
Parker, 48, said his friend’s death “has forced me to prioritize what’s really important in life.”
“No amount of money, shiny new cars or fame can stop you from leaving when your number is called and because of that, we/i should always remember to focus on what’s really important in life and continue to stack up great memories like Toya did,” he wrote. “At the end of the day, when we are gone, all we will be to the people we come across, are memories. Be a great memory to one another like Toya was to all that knew him.”
