Rex Culpepper. Credit: Instagram/rex_culpep, Getty Images Rex Culpepper. Credit: Instagram/rex_culpep, Getty Images
Rex Culpepper, a former Syracuse Orange quarterback, has died at the age of 28, the Syracuse football program has confirmed. His passing comes just one month after he and his fiancée, Savanna Morgan, announced their engagement.
The program shared a statement on X confirming that Culpepper died after suffering injuries in a serious accident in Georgia. He was 28.
“Our Orange family mourns the loss of Rex Culpepper, who passed away this weekend at the age of 28,” the statement read. “Rex lived his life with endless passion, having overcome cancer at the age of 20 while playing for the Orange. Appearing in 30 games, Rex played football as fiercely as he lived life. Our hearts are with the Culpepper family and all who loved him.”
Former Syracuse QB Rex Culpepper dead at 28
Culpepper played primarily as Syracuse’s backup quarterback from 2017 to 2020 and also spent time at tight end. He appeared in 30 career games — 16 at quarterback — throwing for 1,546 yards and 11 touchdowns.
In 2018, during his time with the Orange, Rex — the son of former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Brad Culpepper — was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. He underwent chemotherapy and was declared cancer‑free later that year.
Just a month ago, Culpepper proposed to his longtime partner, Savanna Morgan. She confirmed his passing in a heartbreaking Instagram post featuring photos and videos of their life together.
“No one expects to meet the love of your life and lose them in only 6 short years after meeting,” she wrote. “Rex didn’t always believe in soulmates, but toward the end he told me he didn’t realize what having a soulmate felt like until we felt like extensions of each other… We lived every single day like it was our last… I don’t regret a single day in our 6 years. You made six years feel like a lifetime, Rexy.”
Fiancée’s heartbreaking statement
“I’m sure that myself and all of you who cared about him will never truly be able to move on after knowing someone like him,” she continued. “You don’t just meet people like Rex all the time. He was one in a billion. There wasn’t one thing that man couldn’t do — lawyer, mechanic, musician, chef, athlete, nerd… lover. He became such a lover.”
“I will never take for granted how cool Rex was and how cool he eventually made me too. I will carry on his hobbies forever. I don’t think this Rex‑shaped hole inside me will ever be filled. But seeing how much everyone around him loved him so greatly makes my heart full. So here are some parts of him that I would like to share with you, to hopefully make your heart full too. Our story was a good one, babe.”
Rest in peace, Rex Culpepper. Our thoughts are with his family.
