NFL player Cedric Benson shared eerie Instagram message before fatal crash

Former NFL running back Cedric Benson died in a fiery crash in Austin, Texas, late Saturday evening when the BMW motorcycle he was driving slammed into a minivan. He was 36.

An eerie social media post published just hours before his death and the death of a female passenger, 27-year-old Aamna Najam, showed an image of his beloved motorcycle.

"My Saturday evening,” Benson captioned his Instagram story, alongside a heart emoji.

“Cedric has been my friend for over ten years, and his loss is devastating,“ friend Ashlee Chivari from Chicago told FOX Business. "He was a sweet, kind man who loved his friends and family. He also loved playing football and riding his motorcycle." Benson played for the Chicago Bears from 2005-2007 before being traded to the Cincinnati Bengals.

“This news is so sad," Chivari continued.. "The last time I saw Cedric was in New Orleans, last year, when he was riding his motorcycle across the country. He was coming from Florida and loved the freedom of riding his bike on the open highway. His smile will be missed.”

Benson, from Midland, Texas, ran the ball for three teams in the NFL. He was the fourth overall pick of the 2005 NFL Draft. His last season was 2012 with the Green Bay Packers, and he earned over $25 million while playing football, according to spotrac.com.

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Fiery footage of his crash has been uncovered by TMZ who is only publishing screenshots of the accident because the raw video footage is too graphic.