Cowboys' Josh Brent charged with intoxicated manslaughter, teammate Jerry Brown dead

Another Saturday, another tragedy in the National Football League.

Dallas Cowboys practice squad linebacker Jerry Brown died early Saturday morning -- and to make matters worse, teammate and roommate Josh Brent was charged with intoxicated manslaughter in Brown's death.

Brent and Brown were apparently in the same car last night. Brent, who was the driver, was reportedly speeding, hit a curb, and flipped his car. The accident killed Brown, who was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Per the Dallas Morning News, Brent failed a sobriety test, and was charged with intoxicated manslaughter.

Unfortunately for the Cowboys and Cowboys fans, this isn't the first time in recent history that something like this has occurred. In 2003, Cowboys cornerback Dwayne Goodrich was involved in a hit-and-run accident that left two people dead. Goodrich was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, and was released in late 2011.

Unlike Brent, Goodrich wasn't intoxicated at the time of his hit-and-run accident.

While many were left wondering why Jovan Belcher took the life of his girlfriend and himself last Saturday, there's not much left to the imagination in Brent's case. Brent was irresponsible and reckless, speeding and driving drunk, and the result is the death of a friend and teammate -- and guilt that Brent will never be able to shake for the rest of his life.

This tragedy was entirely preventable. Had Brent simply opted to take a taxi home, or have anybody sober in the world drive, then Brown would almost certainly still be alive -- and Brent would not be incarcerated.

As sad and awful as this story is, hopefully it will serve as a reminder to everybody not to drink and drive -- you're putting yourself, your friends and others in harms way when you do.