Former Steelers player Ray Seals, who made it to the NFL despite skipping college, dead at 59

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Ray Seals' path to the NFL was improbable. But the former semipro football player reached the highest level of professional football. 

Seals' journey in life came to an end this week. Social media user Nini Marie and Syracuse.com confirmed Seals' death. He was 59. 

His cause of death was not immediately released.

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Defensive lineman Ray Seals of the Pittsburgh Steelers during a game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Three Rivers Stadium Dec. 11, 1994, in Pittsburgh.   (George Gojkovich/Getty Images)

Seals' football story began at Henninger High School in Syracuse, New York. Instead of making the leap to the college football ranks, Seals' journey took him to the semipros.

Seals' high school coach, Bob Campese, remembered the former defensive lineman as a "happy-go-lucky" person.

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"(He was) a happy-go-lucky, big, kind-hearted guy who was a tremendous athlete, probably as good or better than any athlete that ever came out of here, really," Campese said, via Syracuse.com. "We had some good ones. But Ray might have been at the top."

Ray Seals, former defensive lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers, during a halftime presentation honoring former players during a game between the Steelers and Chicago Bears at Heinz Field Sept. 22, 2013, in Pittsburgh.  (George Gojkovich/Getty Images)

Despite never playing a snap in college football, Seals signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1988. By 1991, he was consistently in the Bucs' starting lineup. He also had stints with the Pittsburgh Steelers and