Former UNC football player and St. Louis Rams Super Bowl champion Nate Hobgood-Chittick died Saturday, Nov. 11,2017.
Former UNC football defensive tackle and St. Louis Rams Super Bowl champion Nate Hobgood-Chittick died Saturday at 42.
Hobgood-Chittick died of a heart attack while with family and friends on Saturday, according to his hometown newspaper, The Morning Call of Allentown, Pa .
Defensive tackle Hobgood-Chittick played four bowl games for the Tar Heels and was in the NFL for six seasons after graduating from UNC in 1998, according to the university. He was also on the Dean’s List and named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll.
During his NFL career, he played for the St. Louis Rams, San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. He was a member of the St. Louis Rams team that won Super Bowl XXXIV. He also was a member of the Indianapolis Colts and the New York Giants, though he didn’t see any playtime, according to his NFL stats.
Hobgood-Chittick would have been 43 on Nov. 30. He lived in Southern California where he was a financial adviser, but went to high school in Allentown and came back to visit friends.
Dick Vermeil, who was the Rams’ coach when Hobgood-Chittick was on the team and during their Super Bowl XXXIV win, told the Morning Call that Hobgood-Chittick was one of the hardest working members of that team.
“He worked his way to being a part of that team,” Vermeil said. “He was a great guy to have on that team.”
While in the NFL, Hobgood-Chittick volunteered for several community and service programs. He was a crisis and suicide interview counselor in Indianapolis, a home mentor for the Evangelical Children’s Home in St. Louis, a spinal cord injury counselor at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York and a life skills and youth camp organizer, according to the Morning Call. He also earned a master’s degree in social work from California State University at Long Beach.
A GoFundMe campaign was set up in Hobgood-Chittick’s honor and in lieu of flowers, loved ones were asking that people donate to the page to be used to fund further philanthropic work “closest to Nate’s heart.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, more than $15,000 had been raised toward a $50,000 goal.
To donate to the GoFundMe campaign, go to www.gofundme.com/natechittickmemorial-philanthropic .
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