What happened to Spencer Webb? Exploring late Oregon TE's cause of death

Oregon Ducks' former tight end Spencer Webb died last year, in July 2022, in a cliff diving accident at Triangle Lake, Oregon. The 22-year-old was with his girlfriend at the time of the accident. The Lane County Sheriff's Office found no evidence of foul play and determined his death was an accident.

It was later revealed that his girlfriend, Kelly Kay, was several weeks pregnant with his child. Their son Spider, was born in March 2023.

What happened to Spencer Webb?

In an article from April of this year, Kay told People magazine the following regarding the harrowing experience:

"I was there, Spencer passed away in my arms. I was the one who pulled him out of the water and held his head until the paramedics got there. But unfortunately, he passed as they were arriving."

She also recalled attempting to keep him awake, and trying to remain hopeful, as the emergency services tried to save Spencer Webb's life:

"I died that day as well," she said. "It's unbelievable. The whole time we were waiting for the paramedics, I was just talking to him and telling him, 'We're going home. We're walking out of here.' There was a little glimmer of hope in my mind that maybe we were going to be okay, but it didn't end up that way."

Spencer Webb's time with the Oregon Ducks

Webb spent three seasons with the Ducks, between 2019 and 2021. He turned down offers from California, Florida State, UCLA, and Texas A&M, among other schools to play for Oregon.

His best season was without a doubt his freshman year, where he recorded 209 receiving yards with three touchdowns, in 18 receptions.

He went down with an injury before the start of the 2020 season during the fall camp. The shortened nature of that season due to COVID-19 meant he only featured in one game, the Pac-12 championship game. Head coach Mario Cristobal said this regarding his absence that year:

"Losing Webb last year was something that really hurt us offensively."

In 2021, Spencer Webb recorded 87 receiving yards with one touchdown in 13 receptions. That year, he also recorded two solo tackles. He was expected to have a breakthrough season in 2022 as a junior. He helped the Ducks win two Pac-12 championships

The Ducks will sport special uniforms in honor of Webb for their final regular season clash with the Oregon State Beavers.