Rickey Thenarse, a 37-year-old former Seattle Seahawks safety, was shot in the stomach on a Friday afternoon in south Los Angeles and rushed to a hospital for emergency surgery, The U.S. Sun reported. He was expected to make a full recovery.
Police sources said a man and a woman fled the scene in a black SUV. No arrests have been made. Detectives are continuing their investigation, though no suspect descriptions or charges have been publicly disclosed.
TMZ reported that the shooting followed a dispute between Thenarse's girlfriend and the father of her child. That account has not been independently verified beyond TMZ's reporting as cited by The U.S. Sun.
South Los Angeles has long been one of the most dangerous stretches of urban America. That a former professional football player can be gunned down in broad daylight on a Friday afternoon, and the suspects can simply drive away, tells you everything about the state of public safety in the city.
The shooting of Thenarse is the latest in a grim pattern of violent crime touching the lives of current and former athletes. A former Team USA skating medalist was shot and killed at a Starbucks drive-thru in St. Louis by a suspect whose criminal record stretched back to the 1980s, a case that illustrated how repeat offenders cycle through a broken system and back onto the streets.
Thenarse survived. Others have not been as fortunate.
Thenarse was a four-star recruit out of high school who joined the Nebraska Cornhuskers for his college career. Between 2006 and 2010, he played in 51 games for the program, racking up 34 tackles, one interception, and one fumble recovery. A knee injury in 2009 cost him most of that season.
Despite the setback, Thenarse earned Nebraska's Tom Novak Award, a distinction given to the team's top contributor. He went undrafted in 2011 but signed with the Seattle Seahawks the same year.
His time in the NFL was brief. Thenarse made three preseason appearances for the Seahawks but never suited up for an official regular-season game. Seattle released him after final roster cuts in August 2011.
The NFL itself has faced mounting scrutiny on and off the field in recent years. A congressional inquiry was demanded by Rep. Andy Ogles over the league's handling of a halftime show controversy, a reminder that the sport's institutional leadership draws fire from many directions.
What remains unknown about the Thenarse shooting is as striking as what has been reported. The precise location within south Los Angeles has not been publicly identified. Neither has the hospital where Thenarse underwent surgery. The law enforcement agency leading the investigation has not been named in available reporting.
The man and woman who police sources said fled in a black SUV have not been publicly identified. No descriptions beyond that detail have been released. Whether investigators have surveillance footage, witness statements, or other leads remains unclear.
Security concerns around major sporting events and athletes have become a recurring theme. When the Super Bowl drew unprecedented TSA security checks earlier this year, it underscored how seriously threats to the sports world are now taken, at least at the stadium gates. What happens on the streets of south L.A. is another matter entirely.
Social media users who appeared to know Thenarse reacted with alarm. "Hope he is okay," one wrote. "Praying he recovers," posted another. A third simply said: "Awful news."
Violent crime touching the lives of athletes and sports figures has become disturbingly routine. Just recently, a professional cornhole player was charged with murder in a Maryland shooting, a case that drew national attention for its sheer improbability and violence.
These are not isolated incidents. They reflect a broader failure of law enforcement resources, prosecutorial will, and political leadership in cities where violent crime festers year after year. Los Angeles, in particular, has struggled to reverse a surge in violent offenses even as its political class focuses on other priorities.
Thenarse, by all accounts, is expected to survive. That is good news. But a man who earned a college award for his contributions to his team, who fought his way onto an NFL roster, and who is now 37 years old should not have to survive a bullet to the stomach on a Friday afternoon in one of America's largest cities.
The suspects drove off. The detectives are still working. And the people of south Los Angeles are left, once again, to wonder when someone in charge will treat their safety like it matters.
