Two hours after the Mountain time zone chimed in the year 2007, Denver Bronco's 24 year-old cornerback Darrent Williams was shot and killed in his stretch Hummer outside of a nightclub in Denver. Williams was celebrating the birthday of Denver Nuggets basketball player Kenyon Martin when a vehicle pulled up alongside his limousine and fired several rounds. Espn.com reports that the police have "no motive and no indication the 24-year-old Williams, a former Oklahoma State star, was targeted in the drive-by shooting of the limousine."

Williams' death left his coach Mike Shanahan "speechless with sadness." The Bronco coach "cannot express how heartsick [he] feel[s] at this loss." In a statement, Bronco's owner Pat Bowlen aptly describes the loss: "To lose a young player, and more important, a great young man such as Darrent Williams, is incomprehensible. To lose him in such a senseless manner as this is beyond words."

Coincidently, the Broncos were eliminated from the playoffs only hours before the tragic incident. It seems doubtful that this is at all related to Denver's season's outcome, unlike the murder of Andrés Escobar of the Colombian soccer team, gunned down because of his play that ended in a loss to the United States during the 1994 World Cup.

To lose such an agile player in his prime is a tragedy indeed. Williams is the third NFL player to be shot in the past 12 months and the first to die. Here is a video of the late Williams talking with media after their win over the Baltimore Ravens on October 9, 2006. To watch the CNN report of his death, click here.