Former National Football League player Tyler Sash overdosed on pain meds

The Iowa Department of Public Health released the findings of an autopsy in the death of former Hawkeye and New York Giants football player, Tyler Sash, on Tuesday. According to the findings, the 27-year-old Sash died of an accidental overdose when he mixed two pain medications.

Sash, 27, was found dead on September 8 inside an Oskaloosa home. An autopsy was conducted the next day, but the results weren’t clear until laboratory results were completed.

Sash, who recently had dislocated his shoulder and had a history of shoulder ailments (including two concussions), overdosed on methadone and hydrocordone in an effort to see relief from what the medical examiner said were “significant conditions”.

According to Ryan J. Foley of the Associated Press, methadone and hydrocodone “are legal narcotics used to relieve severe pain, but are also highly addictive”. He then went pro with the New York Giants and won a Super Bowl.

The results of the additional tests will be available in eight to 12 months, per the Medical Examiner’s office, via the AP.

He was suspended for the first four games of the 2012 season after testing positive for Adderall, though he said he had a prescription for the drug and didn’t know it was on the NFL’s list of banned substances.

A year later, the Giants cut Sash, and he did not play again.