A rookie San Jose police officer who joined the agency after a San Jose State football career that took him from junior-college walk-on to lead running back died suddenly over the weekend, according to authorities.
DeJon Packer, 24, was found dead Sunday afternoon at his Milpitas home, according to the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office and law-enforcement sources.
Milpitas police Lt. Tyler Jamison did not identify Packer as the person who died, but confirmed that officers dispatched to a home on Daniel Court — where public records show Packer lived — for a report of a man who was unresponsive. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, Jamison said.
Additional details about the circumstances of Packer’s death were not immediately released; Jamison said there is an ongoing death investigation. The coroner’s office stated that an official cause of death was still pending.
The San Jose State football program mourned Packer’s death Monday morning in a statement released on Twitter, and Head Coach Brent Brennan was among many voicing shock to the news.
“Everyone’s just devastated,” Brennan said in an interview. “Everyone feels like this was a bright young life that was just gone way too soon.”
The San Jose Police Department also posted condolences on Twitter on Monday afternoon.
“Our police family is devastated by the sudden loss of Officer DeJon Packer who passed away last night,” reads the posted statement. “He was beloved by the San Jose community … Godspeed.”
Packer grew up in San Jose and graduated from Gunderson High School. He joined SJPD in February 2021 after graduating from a police academy that had been delayed by the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Packer was a standout at Gunderson and initially attended San Jose City College before joining the San Jose State Spartans football team as a walk-on running back. He would eventually lead the team in rushing yards and touchdowns in 2019, a season that included two game-winning runs against Arkansas and Fresno State.
“The first thing you saw every time you came in contact with Pack was his big smile. He came to us about walking onto the football team from San Jose City College. Just, big smile on his face, really motivated,” Brennan said. “He was an incredibly hard worker and that showed up in how he put in time in the weight room, the conditioning and all those parts, but his biggest contribution was just his general positive energy … You always felt better when you bumped into Pack.”
It was because of his time with Spartan football that he had the encounter that would pave his post-athletic path: In an interview with this news organization, he said he was considering a nursing career when then-SJPD chief Eddie Garcia and other police officers visited the team to have a wide-ranging discussion about perceptions of police and the team’s experiences with law enforcement.
“It gave me a different outlook,” Packer said in an interview prior to his academy graduation. “For me, it’s about wanting to be able to make a difference, and show kids in low-income areas, kids who look like me, they can do this job.”
By all accounts in the police department, Packer was thriving as a new officer and had worked a shift not long before he died. In the 2021 interview, Packer said that as a Black man, he approached his new career with the aim of bridging gaps in community trust.
“I embrace it and I know that it’s not going to be something easy. Some are going to see the badge and not see me for who I am,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the impact I’d be able to have on people just by doing good police service for them and being in my community.”
Years after he left, the Spartan football program lauded Packer when he graduated from the police academy. That continuing affection for him made the news of his death far-reaching.
“Everybody loved DeJon Packer,” Brennan said, “so getting this news is just devastating for anyone who’s been around Packer, everyone in our community, our family.”
Staff writer Michael Nowels contributed to this report.
We are deeply saddened by the news of DeJon Packer. The San José State Football family has suffered a great loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with DeJon’s family & friends.
Forever a Spartan. pic.twitter.com/Vyh8frZVAU
— San José State Football (@SanJoseStateFB) March 14, 2022