Junior Siavii, a second-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2004 out of Oregon died in a Kansas prison on Thursday.
Siavii, 43, died in Leavenworth prison where he was awaiting trial. He was found unresponsive in the afternoon, treated by prison staff, and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Siavii played for the Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks in his NFL career. The defensive lineman was the 36th overall pick out of college in 2004.
On Dec. 17, Siavii was moved to the medium-security prison in Leavenworth, which has recently been the site of many prisoner transfers following the end of a federal contract with a nearby private facility run by CoreCivic.
Siavii has been held under federal detention orders since 2019. Siavii was arrested in August 2019 on suspicion of illegal firearms possession during a struggle with police officers in Independence.
A criminal indictment later named Siavii as being part of a methamphetamine drug trafficking conspiracy in the Western District of Missouri. He was charged alongside eight other co-defendants.
Siavii labeled himself “unblockable” upon being chosen by the Chiefs. His NFL career was nondescript at best. He played in 2004 and ’05 for KC. He totaled 15 tackles as a Chief. Siavii had one sack as a 26-year-old rookie.
In 2006, he kept suffering from knee injuries and was placed on the physically unable to perform list, before being waived on September 2. He eventually needed microfracture surgery on his right knee,
He then missed four years of NFL before resurfacing with the Dallas Cowboys in 2009 and starting six games for Seattle in 2010.
He was in on 11 tackles as a Cowboy and 30 for Seattle.