So the apparent deaths of NFL players Marquis Cooper (Raiders) and Corey Smith (Lions) got me thinking about other sports tragedies. It’s always shocking when someone dies young. But with professional athletes, who seem physically invincible, the tragedy of unexpected death is almost magnified.
That said, here are the ten most shocking athlete deaths:
10.) Hank Gathers. You don’t hear a lot about the Loyola Marymount basketball program today. But in the late 80s, they had some talent. Hank Gathers, who had averaged more than 30 points a game in the 88-89 season, was an obvious top pro prospect. But during a game against Portland in 1990, he collapsed (just after a dunk), the victim of an abnormal heartbeat.
9.) Reggie Lewis. An all-star, Lewis mysteriously collapsed during a playoff game in 1992. (He had scored 17 points in 13 minutes.) Even after it was determined that he suffered a heart condition, Lewis returned to the court. Three months later, he died during a practice. He was 27.
8.) Joe Delaney. During his rookies season with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1981, Delaney rushed for 1,121 yards, setting a course for a lengthy NFL career. But in 1983, the 24-year-old Delaney died a heroic death while trying to save three kids from a water hole in Louisiana. (Only one kid survived.)
7.) Drazen Petrovich. One of the early Croatians to join the NBA, Petrovich was a 20-plus-per-game scorer who became the MVP of the New Jersey Nets. In 1993, at 29, he was killed in a car accident on the notoriously dangerous German Autobahn.
6.) Kirby Puckett. In his career, Puckett was a likable slugger, who helped lead the normally mundane Minnesota Twins to two World Series titles. But after his career, ended, his weight ballooned to 350 pounds, and his reputation as a nice guy was sullied by sex abuse allegations. He died of a heart attack in 2006, just days shy of his 46th birthday.
5.) Thurmon Munson. Munson was a 7-time all-star and a member of the successful Yankees teams of the 70s when the plane he piloted crashed in 1979. While his friends escaped the fiery wreck, Munson could not. The Gold Glove catcher was 32.
4.) Pat Tillman. It was shocking when the Arizona linebacker gave up his lucrative NFL career to join the military. It was shocking when he was killed in Afghanistan. And it was shocking when the American public learned its military had lied about how Tillman died. He was killed by friendly fire at 27.
3.) Water Payton. They called him “sweetness” because of his style and grace on the football field. The former NFL rushing leader, who helped take the Bears all the way in 1985, seemed invincible until it was revealed that he had a rare kidney disease. He died at 45.
2.) Len Bias. After a great collegiate career at the University of Maryland, Bias was chosen #2 by the Celtics in the 1986 NBA draft, just behind Brad Daugherty. Just 48 hours later, Bias died of a cocaine overdose.
1.) Roberto Clemente. One of the legendary baseball players of his day, the Pittsburgh Pirate star was headed to Nicaragua to help earthquake victims in 1972 when his plane crashed into the ocean. His body was never found.
I couldn’t help but think about Len Bias during last year’s NBA Finals. Imagine Bias playing on those Celtics teams back in the late 80s and early 90s. Wow. Hard to believe that was back in 86.http://www.wcbias.com/2008/06/who-said-seasons-over.html
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