Top NFL draft prospect Rueben Bain has been linked to a car crash that left a 22-year-old student fatally injured.
The 2026 NFL draft is scheduled to be held in Pittsburgh on April 23–25 and will see 32 teams make 257 total selections across seven rounds.
Bain, 21, is among the highly-rated players expected to be a top-10 pick in the draft having impressed during his college football career playing defensive end for the Miami Hurricanes.
However, ahead of the draft it has been revealed that Bain was involved in a 2024 car crash in which a passenger later died due to the injuries sustained in the accident.
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According to a documents obtained by The Read Optional, the crash happened on 17 March 2024 when Bain was a sophomore at the University of Miami.
The NFL prospect was driving on Interstate 95 at 4 am when his car struck another vehicle before hitting into concrete barriers.
Destiny Betts, 22, was one of four passengers in Bain's car as she was visited Miami from Georgia during a spring break trip.
She sustained severe injuries during the crash and was immediately rushed to the Ryder Trauma Center but never regained consciousness and eventually passed away after three months in a coma on 13 June 2024.
A second passenger was hospitalised with injuries, while Bain's Miami teammates Wesley Bissainthe and Nyjalik Kelly, who are both eligible in the NFL draft, were uninjured.
The police crash report from the incident states that Bain "operated his vehicle in a careless or negligent manner."
No field sobriety test was done, but Bain was cited for careless driving at the time of the incident. The charges were later dropped approximately two weeks before Betts died.
In a statement given to The Read Optional, Betts' family described the crash as a "tragic accident," asking for privacy will saying they "wish Mr. Bain the best as he continues his life and career."
As it stands, it is unclear if the news surrounding Bain's crash will affect his draft position, but NFL sources told The Read Optional that they were aware of the incident and were doing their own investigations.
“It doesn’t feel like [Bain] has been transparent with us," one league source claimed
While another admitted: “We are concerned about multiple incidents. We are waiting for the other shoe.”
A further report from OutKick claims that Bain was again cited for careless driving in 2025, with the case also dismissed because of a “defective citation.”
Topics: NFL, American Football
Ben McCrum