Kiel, 27, was on his way home from a party in the city's Scripps Ranch section when a witness spotted his 2004 Chevy sedan going the wrong way down a road, the police report noted. The vehicle then hit a wall and he was ejected.

Kiel was breathing, barely, when emergency personnel reached him at the scene and he was pronounced dead shortly before 11:30 p.m. local time.

The Lufkin, Texas, native played safety for San Diego after the Chargers made him their second-round pick out of Texas A&M in the 2003 NFL draft.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Saturday that the Chargers released him in February 2007 after he pleaded guilty to a felony drug charge. He was unable to latch on with another NFL club.