It’s been a few weeks since former NFL wide receiver Rondale Moore took his own life. He was only 25 and was a former second-round pick for the Arizona Cardinals. The news was shocking, and many are still trying to make sense of it. Sadly, the story has taken an even more heartbreaking turn.
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According to Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts, who was teammates with Moore in 2024, not many players showed up to the celebration of life for the recently deceased.
Pitts wrote on Instagram that only “6 or 7” of Moore’s teammates from the NFL attended the funeral. This rightly upset Pitts, and he called those people out online for showing “fake emotion.”
“Crazy how only about 6 maybe 7 of your teammates in the NFL showed up for you today smfh. All that talk about fake emotion and nobody want to show up to lay you to rest. Just at a loss of words,” Pitts wrote on his Instagram Story.
Moore’s death sparked widespread discussion across the NFL community about mental health, with many players paying tribute to him online. However, when it came time to show up in person, only a handful did. Reacting to the situation and Pitts’ post, former NFL safety Ryan Clark said it was a painful reminder of the realities of professional sports.
“It’s one of those painful reminders that not all of your friends are your teammates, not all of your teammates are your friends,” Clark said in a video posted on his X account.
“Not all your friends are your teammates. Not all your teammates are your friends.”
I understand why Kyle Pitts was disappointed with Rondale Moore’s teammates. It’s a reminder that teammate doesn’t equate to friend. Although, I’ve felt it imperative to show up for my teammates… pic.twitter.com/a0GNPaVJ0b
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) March 9, 2026
As crazy as it sounds, some guys treat playing in the NFL like any normal job. They show up on time, do their work, and then go home to get ready to do it all over again the next day. Some don’t seek out friendships and try to keep to themselves, while others do the opposite.
At the end of the day, it seems like Pitts and Moore had a great working relationship. And it was good to see that Pitts showed up to the celebration of life to be there for his former teammate. But at the same time, that doesn’t mean every one of Moore’s teammates needed to show up.
Would it have been nice to see more of Moore’s former teammates at his celebration of life? Of course. But do we really need to chastise others for not going? Probably not. Some people deal with death and grief in different ways, and not everyone wants to be as involved in the funeral service as others do.
