MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Caleb Farley was in Nashville when he got a shocking phone call late Monday night telling him his father's Mooresville home exploded.
"I got a call around midnight last night in Nashville from a neighbor explaining the situation," Farley said Tuesday afternoon. "And it didn't sound good from the start."
Robert Farley, Caleb's 61-year-old father, was killed in the explosion. Officials said the elder Farley was on FaceTime with a friend when the explosion happened. The friend initially thought he dropped his phone. Another person at the home, 25-year-old Christian Rogers, suffered a concussion and was taken to a Charlotte hospital for treatment.
Caleb, who starred at Maiden High School before playing college football at Virginia Tech, rushed home immediately. Farley, who was drafted No. 22 overall by the Tennessee Titans in 2021, has the full support of his team while dealing with the devastating loss.
"We're doing what we can to support Caleb and his family," Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. "We'll do everything we can to be there for him. That's the most important thing. He has to focus on him. Everything else is pretty trivial."
Farley's mother died in 2018 following a long battle with breast cancer.
"I want to turn this into crazy success story instead of a pity story," he said. That's what I'm going to focus on. Gives me more motivation, to just work hard and go after my dreams."
During his rookie season, Farley tore his ACL and missed significant time last season due to a back injury. The Catawba County native said the guiding principles his parents instilled him as a child are helping him cope with his father's sudden death.
"I was really emotional earlier," Farley said. "I've kind of leveled off a little bit. It's just been a hectic roller coaster of a ride. Not only today, just for me the last five years, so I've been leaning on my faith and staying with the principles my mother and my father raised me with and that's what's been keeping me calm."
"I've just been leaning on my faith," he said. "Staying with the principles my mother and my father raised me with. That's what's been keeping me going."
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