As a defensive back in the NFL, Dre Kirkpatrick has to be able to forget his failures, whether it's getting burned for a touchdown, being manhandled by a blocker or dropping a sure interception, immediately after they happen. One snap and clear is the mindset.
The on-to-the-next-one mentality that has allowed him to make it from tiny Gadsden, Ala., to Paul Brown Stadium can't help the Bengals cornerback move beyond what occurred early Friday on a strip of Interstate 75 in Cincinnati. That's where three people perished in a horrific car accident.
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Kirkpatrick feels as though he could have prevented it.
Just before the fatal wreck, the fifth-year pro out of Alabama sat with his friend, 30-year-old Kory Wilson, known on the Cincinnati rap scene by his stage name — Kalyko — at a local night spot. Later, Wilson would drive his SUV the wrong way down the interstate, causing a collision that would take his own life as well as those of husband and wife Nazih and Halla Odeh Shteiw, according to Cincinnati.com.
Listen to the 911 call below.
Kirkpatrick took to Twitter to express grief and regret.
I just want y'all to know that was my friend that got killed last night. And I was with him and I knew he was drinking and didn't stop him.
— Dre Kirkpatrick (@DreKirkSWAG) April 8, 2016
I wasn't drinking just hanging out but i knew he wasn't able to drive and now he is gone. Rip @KalykoMuzik
— Dre Kirkpatrick (@DreKirkSWAG) April 8, 2016
Man I'm so hurt right now. bc I talk about drinking and driving all the Time and for me to leave him at that bar like that killing me.
— Dre Kirkpatrick (@DreKirkSWAG) April 8, 2016
So y'all please stop the drinking and driving please bc I lost a good friend and Cincinnati lost a good man. #Kalyko
— Dre Kirkpatrick (@DreKirkSWAG) April 8, 2016
Sry about the lost to the innocent family as well #blessingup 🙏
— Dre Kirkpatrick (@DreKirkSWAG) April 8, 2016