Former Nebraska and Seattle Seahawks safety Rickey Thenarse was involved in a Los Angeles shooting last weekend that comes as he was part of a tricky love triangle
17:49 ET, 09 Apr 2026Updated 17:56 ET, 09 Apr 2026
Rickey Thenarse
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Rickey Thenarse with the Seattle Seahawks in 2011(Image: Getty Images)
Former Nebraska football safety Rickey Thenarse was taken to a local hospital for emergency surgery last Friday after he was shot in the stomach in South Los Angeles.
Thenarse, who appeared for the Seattle Seahawks during the 2011 NFL preseason, was involved in a love triange with his girlfriend and father of her baby. According to TMZ, to people were cited as being on hand fleeing the scene of the shooting in a large black SUV. He isn't the first, NFL player shot this offseason: San Francisco 49ers defender Keion White was shot in a nightclub after the Super Bowl.
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No arrests were made in the matter, as local Los Angeles police chiefs are still investigating. Thenarse received amergency surgery at a local hospital and is through to have recovered.
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TMZ reporter Michael J. Babcock provided the original report on the 37-year-old Ternarse.
"Thenarse was hit in the stomach, but is expected to be okay after he was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery," he tweeted. "Sources say there was some drama between RT, his GF, and the father of her child. A man and a woman were seen fleeing the area in a black SUV. No arrests have been made, and detectives continue to investigate."
Rickey Thenarse
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Rickey Thenarse returns his loan college interception while at Nebraska(Image: Getty Images)
Thenarse was a four-star recruit and the N.o. 94 rated player in his high school class, per ESPN. He has offeres from a host of coastal schools, inclduing USC and UCLA, but opted for Nebraska.
He played for the Cornhuskers from 2006 to 2010, appearing in 51 games both on defense and special teams. Thenarse earned Nebraska's Special Teams MVP honor each of his first two seasons.
Rickey Thenarse
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Rickey Thenarse lines up across from future NFL star Aqib Talib while at school (Image: Getty Images)
He went undrafted in 2011 but latched on with the Seattle Seahawks, a team fresh off a playoff win over the New Orleans Saints thanks to Marshawn Lynch's famous "beast quake" rushing touchdown.
Thenarse logged one preseason tackle before he was released. Seattle missed the playoffs, but the team won the Super Bowl two years later with its famous "Legion of Boom" defense.
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That defense was well-known for its safety tandem of Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor alongside star cornerback Richard Sherman. Thomas was more of the ball hawk, while Chancellor was one of the hardest hitters in recent NFL history.
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After retiring from the NFL, Thenarse latched on as a defensive graduate assistant with Nevada.
In 2016, he was hit with a three to six year sentence from a Lincoln, Nebraska, prosecutor for breaking into a local home on Jan. 14, 2015, stealing several items in the process.