UNLV defensive end dies

UNLV's football team learned the sad news on Thursday that defensive end Robert Travers Jr., a part-time starter at defensive end last season and a local product from Desert Pines High School, had died on Wednesday night. The school would not reveal the details of Travers' death citing privacy laws.

However, UNLV did issue the following statement on Thursday about his passing.

STATEMENT ON THE DEATH OF UNLV FOOTBALL PLAYER ROBERT TRAVERS JR.

The UNLV athletics family is profoundly saddened to learn of the death of football player Robert Travers Jr.

“Our football team and, indeed, the entire UNLV athletics family feels a great loss today,” UNLV head coach Mike Sanford said. “Robert Travers was an outstanding young man who was very well-liked by his teammates and coaches. He was a good student and a hard-working player with a tremendous attitude. Robert will be missed by all of us, and his family will remain in our thoughts and prayers.”

Travers died Wednesday at the age of 21. A 2004 graduate of Desert Pines High School in Las Vegas, he lettered the last two seasons with the Rebels as a defensive end.

Travers had 19 tackles and intercepted a pass for the Rebels in 2006.