Former NFL Star Jordan Shipley In 'Critical but Stable Condition' After Suffering 'Severe Burns' in Accident at His Ranch

NEED TO KNOW

• A former NFL player was involved in a serious accident at his Texas ranch on Tuesday, Jan 6
• The family of Jordan Shipley, who previously played for the Texas Longhorns, announced that he was in a "critical but stable" condition after suffering "severe burns" when a machine he was operating caught fire
• Jordan's brother Jaxon shared on Instagram that his sibling's life was "spared today by the grace of God"

Former Texas Longhorns player Jordan Shipley is in critical but stable condition after suffering “severe burns” in an incident at his Texas ranch.

The ex-NFL star, 40, was injured after a machine he was operating at his ranch “caught fire,” his family announced on Tuesday, Jan. 6.

“Jordan was involved in an accident this afternoon near his hometown of Burnet,” Shipley’s family said in a statement released by University of Texas Senior Associate Athletics Director John Bianco. 

According to his family, Jordan was operating a machine at his ranch when it “caught fire.” He managed to free himself from the machine, but “it was not before sustaining severe burns on his body in the process,” they shared. Jordan was airlifted to the hospital in Austin following the incident.

“He was able to get to one of his workers on the ranch, who drove him to a local hospital. He was then care-flighted to Austin, where he remains in critical but stable condition,” his family said.

Jordan tied the knot with his wife, Sunny Leigh Shipley, in Nashville in 2011, with the couple marking their 13th wedding anniversary on Instagram in May 2024. The pair share two young sons, and just three days ago, Sunny shared an Instagram carousel featuring the family's happy Christmas celebrations.

According to his Instagram page, Jordan is the owner and broker of Shipley Ranches. His brother, former Longhorns receiver Jaxon Shipley, is a real estate agent at the company.

Jaxon, 33, shared a statement about the accident on Instagram, writing, “Please pray for full healing and no infections or other issues on his road to recovery. I don’t want to get into all the details, other than his life was spared today by the grace of God and the sheer will to live. I believe prayer is effective so I’m asking anyone and everyone to lift Jordan up in prayer.”

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Jordan’s father, Bob Shipley, shared in an update on Facebook on Tuesday that the former NFL player is undergoing several surgeries to treat his burns. “The biggest threats at this point seem to be infections and pneumonia,” he wrote.

PEOPLE has reached out to Shipley’s representative for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

Jordan was a receiver and a kick returner for the Longhorns from 2006 to 2009. He was the team’s top leader for receptions, achieving a record of 116 in 2009. He also ranked second in receiving yards with 1,489 yards received in that same year, per ESPN.

In 2010, Jordan was drafted into the NFL by the Cincinnati Bengals. Two years later, he split his time playing with the Bengals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jacksonville Jaguars, before retiring from the game in 2014.

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