By now, you may have heard the tragic story of the death of former New Orleans Saints DE Will Smith.

Smith and his wife were shot at the scene of a car accident late Saturday night in what has been determined to be a road-rage incident:

The former All-American from Ohio State was a first round selection of the New Orleans Saints. He played for the Saints from 2004-13, before ending his career in 2014 after a brief preseason stint with the Patriots.

It is clear that playing SEC country for the duration of his NFL career provided him the opportunity to impact the lives of many young football players from the area.

We’ve collected some of their thoughts following this weekend’s unfortunate events.

Former Alabama RB Mark Ingram was Smith’s teammate with the New Orleans Saints:

Former Auburn LB Takeo Spikes was in the league for almost the entire duration of Smith’s 10-year NFL career:

Former Tennessee LB Jerod Mayo was briefly teammates with Smith during his preseason stint with the Patriots in 2014:

Given that Smith played his entire NFL career in New Orleans, there are several SEC players from that area that grew up as big fans of his work or became fans once at nearby LSU: