What Was Ryan Mallett’s Cause of Death?

While nine to 12 other people were at first reported to caught up in the rip current, everyone else was able to safely get out of the water to a sandbar. Rip currents are “relatively small-scale surf-zone currents” that trap water between the beach and another feature to turn the waves into a “river-like channel moving away from the shore at high speed,” according to the National Weather Service.

But extreme heat was seemingly also a factor in this unthinkable tragedy, with rip currents later being reported not to rise to the level of dangerous. As Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden told WEAR, “It just seems to be a tragic accident and not something to do with the conditions of the surf, the tides or the currents,” Sheriff Aden said.

The temperature in Destin the day Ryan died were in the 90s, and heat indices could have reached the triple digits. The water temperature was in the mid-to-high 80s.

The former pro athlete could have experienced heat stroke or heat exhaustion, contributing to his heartbreaking passing.

Despite his pro-football career and retirement as the White Hall Head Football Coach, Ryan’s life wasn’t always so peachy. In 2019, he was arrested for suspicion of driving while intoxicated in Arkansas, his home state. He also married Tiffany Seeley, who is known as Tiffany Uncensored on OnlyFans, in 2020. Divorce filings show that their marriage lasted just four months.

But on June 1, 2023, Ryan announced his relationship with Madison Carter on Facebook, and later shared a picture of the two of them with the caption, “Appreciation post for my DR/driver/nurse Madison Carter.” He also started coaching with the White Hill School District in 2022, so a new era of his life was just beginning.