Former Notre Dame DL Kona Schwenke dies at age 25
Former Notre Dame defensive lineman Kona Schwenke died over the weekend.
KHON-TV in Schwenke’s native Hawaii reported the news Sunday, which was confirmed by the Notre Dame program on Monday. Schwenke was 25 years old. The cause of his death is unknown at this time. Schwenke’s agent, Jerry Marlatt, said Schwenke died in his sleep.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Schwenke family. pic.twitter.com/4UugepAKTq
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) April 23, 2018
Schwenke signed with the Irish out of Kahuku High School in 2010 and was a four-year letter winner for the program. Overall for his career, Schwenke played in 31 games with nine starts, including two in 2012, when Notre Dame finished as the national runner-up. His best season came in 2013, his senior year. He played in 12 games with seven starts that season and finished the year with a career-high 23 tackles.
Schwenke was not drafted after his time at Notre Dame came to an end, but spent time on the practice squads of the Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots and New York Jets. He also had one season on the Seattle Seahawks’ injured reserve list.
Most recently, Schwenke played on the North team of The Spring League, a new NFL-affiliated spring football league for players looking to further their professional careers. In one game earlier this month, he forced a fumble when pursuing former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
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