However, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said about Nash "We never had a guy play for one year, as Damien did, and influence so many people.

"[3] Nash collapsed suddenly following a celebrity charity basketball game at Riverview Gardens High School on February 23, 2007.

Nash had created the charity in honor of his older brother, Darris, a recent heart transplant recipient.

Sergeant Ed Douglas of the Ferguson, Missouri, police department said in a telephone interview that Nash was transported by ambulance to Christian Hospital Northeast.

Nash was the second Broncos player to die in 2007; cornerback Darrent Williams was shot to death while riding in a limousine after leaving a Denver nightclub early on the morning of January 1, 2007.