Death of Kyle Mullen

Mullen grew up in Manalapan Township, New Jersey, and graduated from Manalapan High School in 2015. He was a "a star defensive lineman and tight end" on the high school football team, receiving regional all-star and conference Defensive Player of the Year honors. In his senior year, on defense he made 136 tackles (leading his team), 11 sacks, and four fumble recoveries, while on offense he caught six touchdown passes.[1] He was also a starter on the school's basketball team.[2] His high school football coach, Ed Gurrieri, after his death, praised Mullen's character and said that he was "in the National Honor Society and excelled at academics. His GPA was in the 4.2 to 4.4 range when he graduated. He was All State and led our team to its first state championship."[3][4]

After high school, Mullen attended Yale University, where he was a standout defensive end on the football team through his junior year. In his sophomore year, he led the team with 11 tackles for a loss and six sacks. He started all ten games in his junior year and was named second team all-Ivy. In November 2017, Mullen was elected by his teammates to be the captain of "Team 146," Yale's football team for the 2018 season, in what would have been his senior year.[5] At Yale, he was also a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. The Yale Daily News reported in November 2018 that the football coach had announced in June 2018, before what would have been Mullen's senior year when he would captain the team, that Mullen had withdrawn from Yale for "personal reasons." The college newspaper also reported that a charge of rape had been brought against Mullen. Mullen left the school before the charges could be adjudicated by the school.[6]

Mullen played another season of college football at Monmouth University in 2019, as a postgraduate. There, according to the Asbury Park Press, he "recorded 26 tackles for a loss, including 3.5 sacks, and broke up five passes."[3] The university's site gives different numbers however, saying that he played fourteen games in 2019 with 26 total tackles including 8 solo tackles, 3.5 tackles for a loss, and one sack.[7]

The current head coach of his high school's football team who was an assistant coach when Mullen played, Dom Lepore, said in 2022, "Last summer I would see him at the gym and he came up to me and said he wanted to be a Navy SEAL," and "After getting his degree he had this direction of going into the military and he was training hard to get himself ready for it."[1]

According to accounts from two retired SEALS, "Hell Week" is a five-and-one-half-day test, starting on a Sunday morning and ending Friday evening, intended to simulate combat conditions, in the fourth week of SEAL candidates' assessment, and a majority of candidates do not finish the week.[8]

Hours after Mullen's Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL (BUD/S) class had completed "Hell Week," Mullen suffered from unknown symptoms and was hospitalized.[9] On February 4, 2022, at about 5:42 p.m., Mullen was pronounced dead at the Sharp Coronado Hospital in San Diego. He was 24 years old.[10]

After his death, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said that Mullen "represented the very best of the state and country," and that "he was a legend in athletics and all walks of life." The governor announced that flags in the state would fly at half-staff in his honor on a future date.[4]