Tony Fein, an Iraq war veteran who played for the Baltimore Ravens in the preseason and was arrested in a high-profile incident at the Inner Harbor, was found dead Tuesday in his home state of Washington, officials said.
The 27-year-old linebacker was discovered face down and unconscious in the living room of a friend's townhouse in Port Orchard about 8:50 a.m., according to Mike Wernet, a battalion chief and medical officer for South Kitsap Fire and Rescue.
Fein had vomited and was pronounced dead an hour later at a hospital, Wernet said.
Coroner Allen G. Gerdes said the cause of death was unclear pending an autopsy, but he said that there was no indication of criminal activity. The local sheriff's office said that it opened a routine death investigation on Tuesday afternoon.
Ravens star Ray Lewis, who helped mentor Fein during training camp, said Fein was a "humble young man.
"He was always searching for some type of direction. It's really sad," Lewis said. "Our heart definitely goes out to his family."
Fein's death came one day before he was due to appear in Baltimore District Court to face charges that he assaulted a city police officer investigating a report that a gun - later determined to be a cell phone - had been passed between a group of Ravens players having a meal at the Inner Harbor.
The Aug. 23 incident drew headlines after Fein's agent said that the officer's actions constituted racial profiling, the result of a stepped-up and what some called overly aggressive police presence in the wake of a double shooting at the tourist hub.
Margaret T. Burns, a spokeswoman for State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy, said prosecutors had notified Fein and his attorney last week that charges in that case would be dropped Wednesday morning, saying the scant information provided by police was conflicting. Prosecutors visited the Ravens' training camp to obtain statements from the players who were with Fein at the time.
"I talked to him [last] Thursday, and he indicated then that he was still bothered" by the arrest, said attorney Warren A. Brown.
Police declined to answer questions about the investigation, saying they stand behind the officer's account.
Fein, an undrafted free agent linebacker who played college football at Mississippi, was released by the Ravens in their final major cutdown Sept. 5.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who spoke to the team Wednesday morning about Fein's death, said he was proud that Fein had been part of the Ravens.
