On February 20, 2023, former Rutgers player Ryan Keeler tragically passed away at the age of 20. He was a member of the UNLV football team at the time of his death. Details of Keeler’s passing can be found here.
It was a tragic story and one that impacted the Rutgers football program. Keeler was a 3-star defensive lineman from Chicago, Illinois and became a Scarlet Knights out of high school. He chose RU over almost two dozen power five offers and enrolled early in January 2021. He redshirted and did not play during the 2021 season. Keeler ultimately transferred in April 2022 to UNLV, where he played seven games and registered 8 tackles along with a sack last fall.
Despite his brief time at Rutgers, Keeler made a big impression and was extremely well liked. The players wore a RK decal on their helmets to honor their former teammate during the Scarlet-White Game.
After the Scarlet-White Game on Saturday, head coach Greg Schiano spoke about the importance of honoring Keeler.
“His life and his legacy, Ryan was a guy that touched a lot of people in a short time,” Schiano said. “And a lot of our players were very, very close to him. He had that kind of personality. And we had probably, I don’t know, nine or 10 of our players went out to [the funeral] service in Chicago. So that kind of shows you that, although he was only here a short time, a year, he had a big impact on a lot of people in our program, including me. He’s a very positive, positive guy and a hard worker. Tragic, absolutely but that was our little way to show a remembrance of him here.”
Rest in peace, Ryan Keeler.
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