Former Texas wide receiver Jordan Shipley was helicoptered to Austin and hospitalized with “severe burns” on Tuesday after a machinery accident at his ranch in Burnet County. He was reportedly in “critical but stable condition.
The family of the 40-year-old, who played four years in the NFL after back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons for the Longhorns in 2008 and 2009, provided the first update regarding his status after the incident. Then, on Wednesday, Jordan’s wife, Sunny Helms Shipley, posted a further update about his condition and shared more information about the accident on social media.
Shipley shared that, “he’s in a lot of pain, as expected. So, they are keeping him sedated and comfortable. At the moment, they are taking another look at his burns and looking at his lungs again before they can remove his breathing tube.”
Update from Jordan’s wife 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/TNT879jxuw
— Nicole🤘🏽 (@NicoleWilfong) January 7, 2026
Jordan Shipley having his burns and lungs examined after machinery accident on his ranch
The post also shares that while Jordan is unable to communicate at the moment, they have been able to piece together some of what happened, including the fact that he managed to get to the “only other person out there who was over 10 miles away,” after sustaining burns from the machine catching fire.
From reports, his hands were badly burned, and according to Sunny Helms Shipley’s post, they are the area of main concern for the doctors at the moment. They are also attempting to stave off infection and monitor his kidney function.
It’s a shocking story and evidently took a heroic effort from Shipley to survive. Longhorns fans have rallied around the man who, with Colt McCoy, helped to lead their team to the BCS Championship Game in 2009.
Shipley then became a third-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2010 and played for the team for two seasons before finishing his career on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jacksonville Jaguars in 2012.