Diondre Overton (April 19, 1998 – September 7, 2024) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. After playing

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level (NCAA Divis ...

, he spent time with the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

Vienna Vikings The Vienna Vikings is a professional American football club based in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1983, the Vikings are known as one of Europe's most dominant clubs, having won the Eurobowl title five times (2004–2007 and 2013), as well as be ...

, Philadelphia Stars, Pittsburgh Maulers, and

Memphis Showboats The Memphis Showboats were an American football franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders. Perhaps the ...

Early life and college

Overton was born on April 19, 1998, in

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

. He attended

Walter Hines Page Senior High School Walter Hines Page Senior High School (commonly referred to as Page High School or simply Page) is a four-year public high school located in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. History Walter Hines Page Senior High School opened its doors ...

, where he competed in football and basketball. As a junior, he averaged 14.6 points per game in basketball and made 31 catches for 577 yards in football. As a senior in football, he made 78 receptions for 1,251 yards and scored 15 touchdowns. He was the number four overall prospect in the state according to

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount. The website hosts a large ...

. Overton committed to

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

over offers from

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. As a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

in 2016, he made two catches for 48 yards and scored a touchdown on his first career reception. In 2017, Overton played in 14 games and made 14 catches for 178 yards. As a junior in 2018, he caught 14 passes and scored three touchdowns while gaining 199 yards in 14 games. As a senior in 2019, Overton recorded 22 catches for 352 yards and scored three touchdowns, appearing in 15 games with five starts. He was voted a team captain and was an Academic All-

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

selection. In a win against

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

, he tied the school record with three touchdown catches, making a career-high 119 yards to earn offensive player of the game and Atlantic Coast Conference receiver of the week honors. Overton won two national championships at Clemson (in 2016 and 2018), and finished his college career with 52 catches for 777 yards and seven touchdowns.

Professional career

After spending 2020 out of football, Overton was signed by the

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

in June 2021. He was released shortly afterwards. In November 2021, Overton was signed by the

of the

European League of Football The European League of Football (ELF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football sports league, league based in Europe, continuing some team names and logos of the former NFL Europe. The ELF played its first season in 2 ...

. Overton was selected by the Philadelphia Stars of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) in the 16th round of the

2022 USFL draft The 2022 USFL draft, also known as the 2022 USFL player selection meeting, was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2022 USFL season. The draft was held on February 22–23, 2022, with results released thro ...

. He was ruled inactive for the game against the

Tampa Bay Bandits The Tampa Bay Bandits were a professional American football team in the United States Football League (USFL) which was based in Tampa, Florida. The Bandits were a charter member of the USFL and was the only franchise to have the same principal ...

on May 21, 2022, with a hamstring strain. On October 4, 2023, Overton signed with the Pittsburgh Maulers of the USFL. The Maulers folded when the XFL and USFL merged to create the United Football League (UFL). On January 5, 2024, Overton was selected by the

during the

2024 UFL dispersal draft The 2024 UFL dispersal draft was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2024 UFL season and disperse the rosters from the eight teams from its component conferences, the XFL and USFL, that were not retained i ...

Statistics

Death

On September 7, 2024, Overton was shot and killed while attending a party in Greensboro. He was 26 years old.

Early life and college

Professional career

Statistics

Death

References

Further reading