The Kansas City Chiefs used on of their pre-draft visits on Rueben Bain Jr., who was involved in a fatal car crash.
The Kansas City Chiefs just had edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. in for a pre-draft visit, and most of the controversy was supposed to be about Bain’s short arm length. But Bain’s draft status took a different turn when it was revealed that he was involved in a fatal vehicular collision back in 2024, according to a report from Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
Florio referenced Ollie Connolly of The Read Optional, who said that Bain was driving on I-95 in Miami when the car he was driving crashed into another vehicle before slamming into concrete barriers. One of the passengers in the car, 22-year old Destiny Betts, suffered serious injuries and never emerged from a coma. She died three days later.
Connolly referenced the police report, which found that Bain was “careless or negligent” in his operation of the vehicle. Bain was initially cited for careless driving, but the charge was later dismissed.
Florio also referenced Albert Breer of SI/MMQB, who said that teams have known about this accident for a “long, long time.” A civil suit that arose from the crash has also been settled.
The knowledge Breer mentioned has given teams time to investigate Bain, according to Florio, but that investigation comes with some complications for the Chiefs. They’re already looking at more controversy involving receiver Rashee Rice, whose trial for the street racing incident he was involved in starts on June 9.
It’s fair to ask if the Chiefs would want to go there again with another top player, regardless of where Bain lands in the draft. There will be plenty of questions about Rice when training camp opens, and the Chiefs will almost certainly refuse to answer them, but there is a breaking point with this sort of thing.
The flip side of this issue is that Bain could drop in the draft as a result. Having this come out in the media just over a week before the draft is obviously a terrible look for Bain, and it’s conceivable that he could drop as far as the back of the first round now.
Florio’s comp for this situation is Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter, who was also involved in a a fatal crash, although that one occurred months before the draft. Carter slipped in the top ten as the Eagles made him the ninth choice, but Carter finished second in the defensive rookie of the year voting and make the Pro Bowl in both 2024 and 2025.