Former North Carolina Central offensive lineman Steven Perry, a starter on the Eagles’ 2016 MEAC championship team and member of the team’s first Celebration Bowl squad, was killed early Sunday in a head-on collision.
Perry, 30, a Durham native who lettered for NC Central from 2014 to 2017 and started all 11 games his senior season, went on to graduate in 2018 with a degree in criminal justice before joining the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
He rose to the rank of master trooper as a member of the 148th Basic Patrol School and spent nearly seven years serving Durham County.
The fatal crash happened around 3 a.m. on NC 147 when a 2015 Nissan Altima was traveling the wrong way and struck Perry’s northbound patrol car head-on, killing both people, according to WRAL.
“With heavy hearts, North Carolina Central University remembers former football student-athlete Steven Perry,” NC Central said in a statement. “Sending strength, comfort, and our sincere condolences to Trooper Perry’s family and friends.”
Perry’s time at NC Central included 30 career games, playing a pivotal role on the 2016 team that went 8-0 in MEAC play and captured the league title.
The NC State Highway Patrol called Perry more than a colleague. “Steven was more than a trooper — he was part of our family,” the agency said in a statement.
