Former NFL Player Josh Mauro Went on 4-Day Bender Before Fatal Overdose: Report

Former NFL Player Josh Mauro Four-Day Bender Before Fatal OD?!? Published July 20, 2026 12:22 PM PDT | Updated July 20, 2026 2:09 PM PDT Former NFL player Josh Mauro allegedly went on a four-day drug and alcohol bender before his fatal overdose ... partying with multiple women right up until his final hours. Josh began binge-drinking and using cocaine at his Arizona home days before his April death ... according to the California Post, citing a newly released Maricopa County Medical Examiner report. Investigators reportedly reconstructed Josh's final days through interviews with several women who came and went from his home ... with the women describing a party that continued into the hours before he was found dead. Josh reportedly consumed alcohol and cocaine throughout the bender ... and investigators found drug paraphernalia scattered near his body, including a bottle cap containing a white substance, white powder beside a rolled-up dollar bill, a syringe in the trash and numerous apparently bloodstained tissues. He reportedly met a female dancer in mid April, about a week before he died, and invited her, two other women and a friend to his home on April 23 -- the day he died. Cops say the woman told them Josh and his friend snorted cocaine, drank tequila and listened to music. She went to sleep, Josh kept partying with his friend and when she woke up she found him dead. As TMZ previously reported ... Josh died April 23 at just 35 years old. His father, Greg, announced the tragic news days later, asking for prayers as the family mourned its "amazing son, brother, uncle, grandson and friend." Officials later determined Mauro died from "acute combined fentanyl, cocaine, and ethanol intoxication" and ruled his death an accident. Josh spent eight seasons in the NFL after going undrafted out of Stanford in 2014 ... playing for the Arizona Cardinals, New York Giants, Oakland Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars. He finished his career with 130 tackles and 5 sacks across 80 games.