Rex Culpepper, a Tampa lawyer, cancer survivor, and former college and high school quarterback, was killed in a dirt bike accident in Georgia over the weekend. He was 28.
Official details of the accident were not available, but his death was confirmed by Syracuse University and in a somber online post by his fiancée and girlfriend of six years, Savanna Morgan. The couple had become engaged only a month ago.
“Rex lived his life with endless passion, having overcome cancer at the age of 20 while playing for the Orange,” Syracuse posted on X. “Appearing in 30 games, Rex played football as fiercely as he loved life. Our hearts are with the Culpepper family and all those who loved him.”
Culpepper, who was recruited out of Plant High School, was diagnosed with testicular cancer in March 2018. While undergoing chemotherapy, he played in the Orange’s spring game, leading his offense to a touchdown. Three months later, after 100 hours of chemo, he rang the bell at Moffitt Cancer Center to signify he was cancer-free.
He returned to football and graduated in 2020.
"Walking down the hallway and seeing all the nurses who had been with me for so many hours and gone through so much with me, seeing me finally walk out of there. I can't even put it into words. It felt like beating Clemson," he said at the time.
Culpepper earned a master’s degree in 2021 before enrolling at the Stetson University College of Law. He was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2024 and was working for the Morgan & Morgan law firm in Tampa.
In February, he announced his engagement to Savanna Morgan, who he met while she was a cheerleader at Syracuse. The couple posted an online image of Culpepper proposing on one knee during a horse-riding trip in North Carolina’s Nantahala National Forest.
“No one expects to meet the love of your life and lose them in only 6 short years after meeting,” she wrote in a Instagram post on Monday.
“Rex didn’t always believe in soulmates, but towards the end, he told me that he didn’t realize what having a soulmate felt like until we felt like extensions of each other. You don’t just meet people like Rex all the time. He was one in a billion. I don’t think this Rex-shaped hole inside of me will ever be filled. Our story was a good one, babe.”
Culpepper was the oldest son in an athletic family.
Culpepper’s father, Brad, played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1990s and is now a well-known personal injury lawyer. His father and mother, Monica, were popular contestants on the CBS’ reality show “Survivor.”
His brother, Judge, played football at Toledo and was with the Bucs for the 2024 training camp. And his sister, Honor, received her law degree at New York University, where she won an NCAA Division III national title in women’s basketball.
A close friend, Victor Silva, wrote online that Culpepper died "doing what he loved most, ripping a 2stroke dirt bike and pushing himself to be better."
Silva also wrote that Culpepper was a role model and hard worker who enjoyed entertaining: "You may have passed, but you also damn sure lived. For that we celebrate. You live through us now, and we’ll do our best to live it up."
Syracuse’s athletic department reported is planning a moment of silence and a video tribute at an upcoming sporting event.
“A guy who had zero fear and truly lived life to the fullest,” wrote Eric Dungey, who played with Culpepper at Syracuse. “Thanks for all the memories, brother.”
Culpepper played in 16 games for Syracuse at quarterback or tight end, but he spent most of his time as a backup signal-caller. He completed 139 of 266 passes for 1,546 yards and 11 touchdowns. His senior year was his best, starting in five games at QB and completing 94 of 190 passes for 1,028 yards and nine touchdowns.
After beating cancer, he was given the school’s inaugural courage award.
At Plant, Culpepper was ranked the No. 7 quarterback in the state by Scout.com. He didn’t play his senior year due to injury but as a junior threw for 2,016 yards and 20 touchdowns to lead the Panthers to the 2014 Class 8A regional semifinals under head coach Robert Weiner.
“Beyond the field, Rex built a life defined by purpose and determination,” wrote current Plant head coach Hank Brown on Instagram, “becoming an attorney and expressing his creativity through music, writing and playing the guitar."
Brown was an assistant coach while Culpepper attended the South Tampa school.
"... Above all else, Rex will be remembered as a man, a son, a brother, a fiancé, a teammate, and a friend who meant so much to so many. His legacy lives on in the lives he touched and the inspiration he leaves behind," Brown wrote.
Bo Puckett, a Plant teacher and coach, wrote on Facebook that Culpepper was “one of those one in a million human beings.”
“From my vantage point his greatest quality was his relentlessness to solve problems,” wrote Bo Puckett, a Plant teacher and coach, on Facebook. “It’s a quality that I lecture about often to my seniors at Plant. There was no problem too big for him to fix.”
