Former Kansas Football Star Brandon Bourbon’s Final Interaction Through Social Media
Since April 2, authorities had been looking for Kansas football player Brandon Bourbon, who was reported missing by his family, which The Inquisitr wrote about on the fourth of April.
On the eighth, local news source 13 WIBW of Kansas reported that Friday, that the body of the football player had been found by a river front property.
Since the report was filed, it has been revealed that Bourbon died of an apparent self-inflicted gun shot wound in his van, and his death was ruled as a suicide.
Bourbon formerly played with the Kansas Jayhawks before he transferred to Washburn in Missouri for the 2015 season.
KSDK out of Potosi reports that he left his family’s home Saturday evening on the second and that he had been acting unusual early in the week.
The article also says that they were able to track activity from his phone to Steelville and Vienna before it stopped responding.
Some of his last tweets from that same day provide some insight into his thoughts.
— b_______Up ?? (@BeastmodeBourb) April 2, 2016
— b_______Up ?? (@BeastmodeBourb) April 2, 2016
— b_______Up ?? (@BeastmodeBourb) April 2, 2016
In the post by The Inquisitr, family members were apparently contesting rumors about a final video post made on his Facebook page.
Early in the week, however, a video was posted on Monday where the former Kansas football Jayhawk is talking about a religious experience.
But more information is coming out about what Brandon might have been dealing with.
For instance, the Kansas City Star published a piece about a former Jayhawk teammate who noticed that his friend had been acting different for up to two weeks prior to when he went missing.
The article reveals that Bourbon was up for a big change in his life, looking to partake in the NFL draft, as well as struggling with his spirituality.
“Hampton says his friend changed abruptly this month. Bourbon’s personality shifted, perhaps because he was starting to look for his first full-time job after college in a career that wasn’t going to involve playing football.”
The article also refers to his friend establishing a Facebook page to assist in the search, and while they’ve worked to clear up misinformation, the last thing that’s posted on the former Kansas player’s account was a share of a Taylor Swift video.
https://www.facebook.com/brandon.bourbon/posts/10153349781362680
A GoFundMe account was started up to help the family pay for the funeral expenses and apparently, in a very short time, they were able to meet their $10,000 goal.
Kansas football coach David Beaty made a statement after his body was discovered.
“Our hearts are broken to hear the news of the passing of Brandon Bourbon. Brandon was a wonderful teammate and friend. He was a tireless worker both on the field and in the classroom and was a constant source of inspiration within our program. The entire Jayhawk family cared very deeply for him and he will always be in our hearts. Our thoughts and prayers are with Brandon’s family and friends.”
It would appear that at some point in 2011, Brandon might have had some reason to reflect on life then and tweeted this out.
Never thoughts of suicide I'm too alive. But I'm still livin like it's do or die
— b_______Up ?? (@BeastmodeBourb) December 10, 2011
It seems rather apparent from the footage and the claims about how he’s struggled to find his identity that religion and faith played a large role in his life.
In August of last year The Topeka-Capital Journal wrote about the time that Bourbon had joined Washburn from Kansas, and the rehabilitation period he’s had to go through to recover from many injuries, taking into consideration to possibility that he might need to give up the game despite his outstanding record.
“It’s devastating at first. You’ve got to go through the stages and it’s depressing,” he acknowledged. “But you’ve just got to fight through it and look at the long-term, where you want to be and put in the work, day-in, day-out.”
An obituary was published for the former Kansas star, and a memorial was held at the Potasi football field on the April 13.
[Photo by Michael Thomas/AP Images]
