Sometimes, life isn’t fair. Things don’t work out like they could, or like they should.

Such was the case with Ben Gay, the former Browns running back who died recently in a car accident in Colorado at the way-too-young age of 44.

Gay was a high school phenom, one of the top prospects in the country 25 years ago. He was set to go to a big college, but that didn’t work out.

He could have had a decent career in the pros. He showed his prowess with the Browns in 2001, especially in a big win at Baltimore over the defending Super Bowl champion Ravens. But he was like a shooting star in that that didn’t last, either.

And then, after that, you never heard of him again until the other day when his passing became news.

Gay seemed like a great young guy, someone who was troubled, but at the same time was humble, and never lost his determination to prove his worth as a football player. You root for guys like that. You really do.

When it was all said and done, he ended up far away from the bright lights of the NFL, working as a welder.

He leaves behind a wife and three children, two daughters and a son. So in them, perhaps Ben Gay did find his joy — and his niche, his purpose — after all.

Steve King