Rex Culpepper, the son of former Survivor players Brad and Monica Culpepper, has died at 28 years old.
The former Syracuse University quarterback died from injuries sustained in a dirt bike accident in Georgia on Saturday.
The school’s football team released a statement on social media following the news, sharing a photo from Culpepper’s time on the field. “Our Orange family mourns the loss of Rex Culpepper, who passed away this weekend at the age of 28,” the X post 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 fierce as he lived life. Our hearts are with the Culpepper family & all those who loved him.”
Culpepper’s father Brad was also a football player in the NFL as a defensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Chicago Bears. Following his NFL career, he competed on two seasons of the CBS reality show Survivor — Blood vs Water in 2013 and he was a runner-up on Game Changers in 2017.
Monica Culpepper also competed on two seasons of Survivor, Blood vs Water (where she finished runner-up) and One World (2012).
Rex was diagnosed with testicular cancer in the spring of 2018, after which he continued to play six games of football, earning him the university’s Jim DaRin Courage Award. After completing 100 hours of chemotherapy, he was deemed cancer-free by Moffitt Cancer Center that same year.
Upon graduating from Syracuse in 2020, Rex went on to complete his master’s degree before enrolling at Stetson University College of Law. He later joined the Florida Bar and began working at the Morgan & Morgan law firm in Tampa.
Last month, he announced his engagement to Savanna Morgan. The two met when she was a cheerleader at Syracuse. Morgan shared a tribute to her late fiancé on Instagram.
“No one expects to meet the love of your life and lose them in only 6 short years after meeting,” Morgan wrote in a lengthy post. “Rex didnt always believe in soulmates but towards the end he told me that he didnt realize what having a soulmate felt like until we felt like extensions of each other.”
She continued: “And one thing about us is that we lived every single day like it was our last. We did every little thing that we set our minds to, between learning new skills and hobbies, and traveling to new places, there was never any free time with us and not a moment spent apart. I dont regret a single day in our 6 years.”
