The father of Tennessee Titans cornerback Caleb Farley died in an explosion that destroyed the NFL player's North Carolina home and left another person injured, authorities said Tuesday. The football player himself was not home at the time of the blast. His father, Robert M. Farley, 61, was found dead in the debris of the Mooresville house Tuesday morning, said Kent Greene, director of Iredell County Fire Services and Emergency Management. First responders arrived at the house a few minutes after midnight Tuesday and found Christian Rogers, 25, exiting the collapsed structure, the AP reports. Rogers, described by Greene as a friend of the family, was transported to Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte with a concussion. He is awake and alert, Greene said, but has not yet been discharged.
The cause of the explosion is under investigation, but Greene said gas must have accumulated over a long period and likely found its way to an ignition source. The blast, which local authorities have ruled accidental, originated in a bedroom and did not damage any surrounding homes. Caleb Farley, the No. 22 overall pick in the 2021 draft, was placed on injured reserve last November with a back issue. He has played 12 games in his first two seasons and is currently listed as physically unable to perform as the Titans wrap up training camp this week. In college, the 6-foot-2, 197-pound cornerback was the first high-profile player to opt out of the 2020 season because of the coronavirus pandemic. He lost his mother to cancer in 2018 and was unwilling to put another loved one at risk while playing at Virginia Tech. (More North Carolina stories.)