Josh Mauro, a former NFL defensive end who carved out an eight-season career after going undrafted out of Stanford, died on April 23. He was 35 years old. His family announced the loss Tuesday in a Facebook post that leaned heavily on their Christian faith, though no cause of death has been disclosed.
Mauro's father, Greg Mauro, shared the news on the social media platform. The post did not explain how or where Josh died, only that he was gone, and that the family was turning to God and to the prayers of others to carry them through.
The elder Mauro wrote on Facebook:
"With many tears and broken hearts, yet anchored in the unshakable certainty that our precious Josh Mauro is now healed and made new, living in the presence of the Lord, we humbly covet your prayers as our family walks through the devastating loss of our amazing son, brother, uncle, grandson and friend."
He continued:
"On Thursday, April 23rd, Josh breathed his last breath on this Earth and his first breath in heaven. The Lord has been our strength in this unimaginable moment. Your prayers for continued strength and comfort mean more to us than words could ever express."
Fox News Digital first reported the death, detailing Mauro's journey from an undrafted prospect to a dependable NFL starter. The news was later confirmed by the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders on social media, as the Associated Press reported.
Josh Mauro's path to the NFL had nothing handed to him. Born in England while his father was stationed there for work, Mauro eventually moved to Texas, where he built the high school résumé that earned him a spot at Stanford. He played Division I football for the Cardinal, and when the 2014 NFL Draft came and went without his name being called, he signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent.
Pittsburgh cut him during final roster moves before the season started. It was the kind of setback that ends most NFL dreams before they begin.
Mauro landed with the Arizona Cardinals instead, and stayed. Over six seasons in Arizona, he worked his way from roster filler to a legitimate contributor on the defensive line. By 2016, he had earned a starting role and recorded seven tackles for loss across 15 games. In total with the Cardinals, he collected 83 combined tackles and four sacks across 55 games and 29 starts.
Listed at 6-foot-6 and 290 pounds, Mauro was a physical presence on the edge. His career also took him to the New York Giants and the Oakland Raiders, as the New York Post noted in its coverage of his passing. He returned to the Cardinals for the 2020 and 2021 seasons before his playing days ended.
The loss of a young football figure comes during a period that has seen the sport mourn several prominent members, including legendary coach and Medal of Freedom recipient Lou Holtz, who died earlier this year at 89.
Across 80 career games, Mauro compiled five sacks, 130 combined tackles, 20 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, and five passes defended. Those are not Pro Bowl numbers. They are the numbers of a man who showed up, did his job, and kept earning a paycheck in a league that discards hundreds of players every September.
For an undrafted free agent to appear in 80 games, with 40 starts, as the AP confirmed, is an accomplishment that speaks to durability, preparation, and the kind of quiet professionalism that rarely makes highlight reels but keeps a locker room functioning.
The Arizona Cardinals acknowledged the loss publicly. "We are heartbroken to learn of the passing of Josh Mauro," the team said in a statement, as the AP reported. The Las Vegas Raiders, successors to the Oakland franchise Mauro once suited up for, also confirmed the news on social media.
The NFL world has faced its share of off-field turbulence lately, from reporter departures and league-media fallout to ongoing debates about player health and safety. Mauro's death, with no cause disclosed, adds another layer of concern for those who follow the long-term well-being of former players.
What stands out most in the family's announcement is not grief alone but the bedrock conviction underneath it. Greg Mauro did not rage at the unfairness of losing a 35-year-old son. He pointed upward. He asked for prayers. He spoke of healing and heaven with the plainness of a man who means every word.
That kind of faith statement in a public forum is worth noting in a culture that often treats religious expression as an afterthought, or an embarrassment. The Mauro family did not hedge. They did not issue a sterile press release through a publicist. A father sat down and wrote about his boy, and he did it in the language of Scripture.
Breitbart also covered the story, highlighting Greg Mauro's Facebook post and the April 23 date of Josh's passing. The coverage across multiple outlets confirmed the same core details: a young man gone far too soon, a family held together by faith, and a football career that deserved more years than it got.
The absence of a disclosed cause of death leaves an obvious and painful gap. Mauro's family has not addressed it, and no reporting has filled in the blank. Whether the family chooses to share more in time is their business alone.
Several basic facts remain unknown. Where did Josh Mauro die? What caused his death? The family's post offers no details beyond the date. No law enforcement statement, no hospital, no medical examiner's report has surfaced in any available reporting. The silence may reflect a family's right to privacy, or it may reflect a story that has not yet fully emerged.
Untimely deaths always raise hard questions, and stories of lives cut short remind us how fragile even the strongest among us can be. A 6-foot-6, 290-pound professional athlete is not supposed to die at 35. The fact that it happened, and that no one has explained why, is the kind of thing that lingers.
Josh Mauro did not have a famous name. He was not a first-round pick or a franchise cornerstone. He was a man who got cut by the Steelers before he ever played a regular-season snap, then picked himself up and played 80 NFL games across eight seasons. He earned every one of them.
His father's words say the rest. In a world that runs from grief and fumbles around faith, Greg Mauro stood flat-footed and said what he believed. That tells you something about the family Josh Mauro came from, and the kind of man he was raised to be.
Thirty-five is no age to leave this world. But if the measure of a life is how you carry yourself when no one is handing you anything, Josh Mauro left a record worth honoring.
