Rondale Moore, an NFL wide receiver and return specialist whose record-setting freshman season at Purdue included the school’s single-season all-purpose yards record, died Feb. 21, 2026. He was 25. Police said Moore died in New Albany, Indiana, of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound; the death was under investigation and an autopsy was planned.
Moore’s signature season came in 2018, when he earned consensus All-America honors as a true freshman and won the Paul Hornung Award, presented to college football’s most versatile player. He set Purdue’s single-season record for all-purpose yards with 2,215, producing as a receiver, runner and returner.
Selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round of the 2021 NFL draft, Moore carried that multi-use role into the league. Over three seasons with Arizona, he recorded 135 receptions for 1,201 yards and three receiving touchdowns, and added 52 rushes for 249 yards and a rushing touchdown.
His later NFL years were interrupted by injuries. After being traded to the Atlanta Falcons in 2024, he dislocated his right knee in training camp and never played a regular-season game for the team. With the Minnesota Vikings in 2025, he suffered a season-ending left knee injury while returning a punt in the team’s first exhibition game and spent the season on injured reserve.
Moore is best remembered for the scale and versatility of his 2018 Purdue season, which remains a standard for all-purpose production in the program. In the NFL, his career reflected the same skill set: a player used in multiple roles to generate yardage and field position.