In memoriam: 100 sports personalities we lost in 2023
The sports world mourned the loss of many legends in 2023. We remember them here for their contributions to the games – and our enjoyment of them – through the years.
January
Jan. 1 – Art McNally, 97, was the first on-field official inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2022. He started as a field judge in the NFL in 1959 and was promoted to referee in 1960. After eight seasons, he became the league’s supervisor of officials, a position he held until 1991. As the league grew in stature, he’s widely credited with making sure officials’ training and professionalism grew in tandem. He’s also known as “The Father of Instant Replay.”
Jan. 9 – Virginia Kraft Payson, 92, was the only woman among the first group of writers hired by Sports Illustrated magazine when it launched in 1954, covering outdoor pursuits like hunting, fishing, and dog training. In the 1970s, she and her second husband became prominent thoroughbred horse breeders and owners in Kentucky.
Jan. 11 – Charles White, 64, was a star running back at USC, won a national championship in 1978, and the Heisman Trophy in 1979. He remains the Trojans’ career rushing yards leader. He played eight seasons in the NFL but only eclipsed 1,000 yards once, his All-Pro season with the Rams in 1987.
Jan. 12 – Gerrie Coetzee, 67, was a uniquely popular boxer with both whites and Blacks in apartheid South Africa. He was the first African boxer to win a world title when he knocked out Michael Dokes in the 10th round in 1983 to claim the WBA heavyweight belt. He lost the belt 15 months later in his first defense when Greg Page knocked him out at the end of a controversial eighth round that may have lasted more than three minutes.
Jan. 15 – Gino Odjick, 52, played 12 seasons in the NHL, primarily with Vancouver where he was beloved as an enforcer on teams coached by Pat Quinn and Rick Ley in the 1990s. Originally from Quebec, he worked with Indigenous communities in B.C. following his playing career.
Jan. 20 – Sal Bando, 78, played 16 seasons in the major leagues as a third baseman. Captain Sal was a member of the 1972-74 Oakland A’s who won three consecutive World Series. He was a four-time All-Star and finished second to teammate Vida Blue in MVP voting in 1971.
Jan. 26 – Billy Packer, 82, covered 34 straight Final Fours and was one of the definitive TV analysts during college basketball’s rise to prominence in the 1970s and ’80s. He worked with Dick Enberg and Al McGuire at NBC, calling the 1979 NCAA Tournament final that featured Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. In 1981, he moved to CBS where he teamed with Verne Lundquist and Jim Nantz until 2008.
Jan. 30 – Bobby Beathard, 86, worked in NFL front offices for 34 years, first as a scout and then as an executive. He was director of pro personnel for the Dolphins for six years, starting with their perfect season in 1972. He became the general manager in Washington in 1978, building two Super Bowl winners with coach Joe Gibbs. He later became the GM in San Diego, where he took the Chargers to their only Super Bowl appearance in 1994.
February
Feb. 13 – Conrad Dobler, 72, played 10 years in the NFL as one of the game’s most feared offensive linemen, combining with Dan Dierdorf to create a formidable right side of the line with the St. Louis Cardinals. He made three Pro Bowls during his six years with the Cardinals and was featured on the cover of a 1977 edition of Sports Illustrated as “Pro Football’s Dirtiest Player.” His 1988 autobiography was titled “They Call Me Dirty.”
Feb. 14 – John Veitch, 77, trained Alydar through one of the most riveting head-to-head battles in horse racing history. Alydar finished a narrow second to Affirmed in all three Triple Crown races in 1978. Veitch trained Proud Truth, who won the 1985 Breeders’ Cup Classic, and four horses who earned Eclipse Awards as year-end category champion.
Feb. 19 – Greg Foster, 64, was a standard-bearer in track and field for 18 years as one of the world’s best sprint hurdlers. He won gold in the 110-meter hurdles at the first three world championships in 1983, 1987, and 1991 and was the Olympic silver medalist in 1984. He was inducted into the U.S. Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1998.
Feb. 26 – Terry Holland, 80, is best known as the head basketball coach at Virginia from 1974-90, leading the Cavaliers to two Final Four appearances in the early 1980s, and an NIT championship. The 1981-83 teams won three straight ACC regular-season titles behind star recruit Ralph Sampson. Holland became Virginia’s athletic director in 1994 and held the same role at East Carolina from 2004-2013.
March
March 1 – Jerry Richardson, 86, was a rarity in the NFL: a former player who went on to become a team owner. Richardson played for two seasons, winning a championship with the 1959 Colts in his rookie year. He used the championship bonus money to fund his first business and eventually became a food-service industry mogul. He was awarded the expansion Carolina Panthers franchise in 1993, and sold the team in 2018.
March 9 – Otis Taylor, 80, was a wide receiver on the legendary Kansas City Chiefs teams at the dawn of the Super Bowl era. He helped the Chiefs win Super Bowl IV over Minnesota in the last title game before the AFL merged with the NFL. He was runner-up in 1971 NFL MVP voting and earned a first-team All-Pro selection once in each league.
March 10 – Jesús Alou, 80, was the youngest of the three Alou brothers who made it to the major leagues out of the Dominican Republic. He played 15 seasons, primarily with San Francisco and Houston. He earned two World Series rings late in his career with Oakland in 1973 and 1974, which were more than his more accomplished brothers had (Matty earned one with Oakland in 1972).
March 12 – Felton Spencer, 55, spent 12 years in the NBA playing for six teams between 1990 and 2002. After four years at the University of Louisville, he was the No. 6 pick in the 1990 draft by Minnesota. His most notable years were the three seasons he spent in Utah supporting Karl Malone and John Stockton, which included two NBA Western Conference finals appearances in 1993-94 and 1995-96.
March 13 – Glen Weir, 71, was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2009 after starring on the defensive line for Montreal for 13 seasons. He was a member of two Grey Cup winners (1974 and 1977), was a five-time East All-Star, and was All-CFL three times.
March 31 – John Brockington, 74, was the NFL’s offensive rookie of the year in 1971 for Green Bay after being drafted ninth overall out of Ohio State. He was also first-team All-Pro, and helped the Packers to their first playoff appearance in the post-Vince Lombardi era the following season. Wear and tear from his physical running style took its toll after a third straight 1,000-yard season and his production dwindled over the final four years of his career.
April
April 4 – Craig Breedlove, 86, spent the 1960s chasing a single goal: the world land-speed record. With Utah’s stark Bonneville Salt Flats as his track and his backdrop, he became the first to crack the 400, 500, and 600-mph barriers in successive jet-powered cars (called the Spirit of America that he designed and built). As late as 2018, he was still designing a car to take on the current record of 763 mph.
April 19 – Dave Wilcox, 80, nicknamed “The Intimidator,” was a ferocious outside linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers from 1964-74. He was a seven-time Pro Bowler and twice was named first-team All-Pro. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000.
April 27 – Dick Groat, 92, has the distinction of being an MVP baseball player who is also a member of the College Basketball Hall of Fame. He twice earned All-American honors in both sports (playing shortstop and point guard) and was the NCAA basketball player of the year in 1952. Groat briefly tried to pursue the dual track with Pittsburgh and the NBA’s Fort Wayne Pistons before being drafted into the Army. Upon his return after two years, he concentrated on baseball. In 1960, he was named the National League MVP and led the Pirates to their first World Series title since 1925. He won another title with the Cardinals in 1964.
April 29 – Larry “Gator” Rivers, 73, starred for the Harlem Globetrotters from 1973-77 and again from 1979-86. He apprenticed under Marques Haynes and Curly Neal as a dribbling specialist and briefly coached the team at the end of his playing career. He opened a basketball academy in 1990 and was a county commissioner in Georgia for the final three years of his life.
April 29 – Mike Shannon, 83, a St. Louis native, was ingrained in the city’s baseball culture for almost 60 years. He competed in both baseball and football at the University of Missouri and might have gone on to be a famous quarterback if the sport had paid better. He played right field and third base for the Cardinals from 1962-70 and then broadcast their games from 1972-2021. He was a member of Cardinals teams that won the World Series in 1964 and 1967 and lost to Detroit in seven games in 1968. He won two Missouri Emmy Awards as broadcaster of the year and was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame in 2014.
May
May 4 – Petr Klima, 58, scored 30 or more goals six times in his 13 seasons in the NHL. He’d already played four seasons in the Czech league when he broke into the NHL with Detroit in 1985 at the age of 21. He later won a Stanley Cup with Edmonton in 1990. He’s one of eight Czech players to score 300 or more goals in the NHL.
May 7 – Larry Mahan, 79, was the first cowboy to win five consecutive all-around world championships in Rodeo Cowboy Association competition. He added a sixth title in 1973, three years after his streak. He also earned two bull-riding world titles. A documentary about him, “The Greatest American Cowboy,” won the Academy Award for documentary feature in 1974. He was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979.
May 8 – Joe Kapp, 85, starred in both the CFL and NFL in his 12-year professional football career. In college, he led Cal to Pacific Coast Conference titles in both football (1958) and basketball (1957 and ’58). He was a low-round NFL draft pick by Washington, who never offered him a contract. So he took the offer made by Calgary of the CFL. He made his name in the three-down league by leading the BC Lions to a Grey Cup title in their fourth year of existence. In 1967, he opted to sign with Minnesota of the NFL and led to them the franchise’s only title, the 1969 NFL Championship. He’s a member of both the college football and Canadian football halls of fame.
May 9 – Denny Crum, 86, was head basketball coach at the University of Louisville for 31 years, leading the Cardinals to the Final Four six times and to NCAA Tournament championships in 1980 and 1986. After playing at Pierce College and UCLA in the late 1950s, Crum became head coach at Pierce in 1964 but left to join John Wooden’s staff at UCLA in 1969. After three straight titles at UCLA, he was hired by Louisville. He earned three national coach of the year awards and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994 and the college basketball hall in 2006.
May 12 – Don Denkinger, 86, was an American League umpire for 30 years, serving as crew chief for the last 21. He worked the World Series in 1974, 1980, 1985, and 1991 (the last two as crew chief). He also was selected for two AL Division Series, six AL Championship Series, and three All-Star Games. He embraced his biggest blown call from Game 6 of the 1985 World Series by appearing at memorabilia shows and reunions in St. Louis and hung a painting of the game scene in his restaurant in Waterloo, Iowa.
May 14 – Doyle Brunson, 89, literally wrote the book on poker. His early ambitions as a miler and basketball player were derailed by injury, and he started playing in illegal poker games in Texas and around the south while working after college. He was there at the birth of the World Series of Poker in 1970, winning the Main Event in 1976 and 1977 along with eight other championship bracelets. In 1978, he self-published “Super/System,” which became the definitive early book on poker strategy. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1988.
May 16 – Marlene (Bauer) Hagge, 89, was one of the 13 women (along with her sister Alice) who founded the LPGA Tour in 1950. She was a precocious junior golfer, making the cut at the 1947 U.S. Women’s Open at age 13, the youngest ever at the time. Just 16 when she turned pro, she won 26 LPGA Tour events, eight in 1956 alone. That was the same year of her only major victory, the 1956 Women’s PGA Championship, which she won in a playoff over fellow founder Patty Berg. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2002.
May 17 – “Superstar” Billy Graham, 79, made a name for himself performing in several wrestling promotions from 1970 through the present, including the early iteration of the WWE. He won three world heavyweight titles in various circuits, and is credited as a prototype for the tan, muscled look, and speaking style of many wrestlers like Jesse “The Body” Ventura and Hulk Hogan. WWE inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2004.
May 23 – Fusaichi Pegasus, 26, was the winner of the 2000 Kentucky Derby in a time that remains among the 10 fastest of the 128 runnings of the race at a mile and a quarter. He raced only three more times after the Derby. Despite finishing sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, he fetched a record $70 million in his stud auction.
June
June 3 – Jim Hines, 76, was the first man to officially break 10 seconds in the 100 meters, running 9.95 seconds at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. That record stood for almost 15 years until Calvin Smith ran 9.93 in 1983. Hines and the U.S. men’s 4×100 relay also set the world record at the same games. Earlier that year, Hines was drafted by the Miami Dolphins but his career was short-lived. He appeared in 10 games in 1969 and one more for Kansas City in 1970.
June 4 – Roger Craig, 93, had a decent MLB pitching career for 12 seasons but became renowned later as a pitching coach and the father of the split-finger fastball. He didn’t invent the pitch but became its best teacher, imparting it to Jack Morris and the other members of the pitching staff that took the Detroit Tigers to the 1984 World Series title. After serving on Sparky Anderson’s staff in Detroit, he got a second chance to manage with San Francisco, piloting them for eight seasons including an appearance in the 1989 World Series.
June 10 – Jim Turner, 82, had a 16-year career in the NFL as a placekicker for the New York Jets and Denver Broncos. He kicked three second-half field goals in Super Bowl III, extending a halftime lead in the Jets’ monumental 16-7 upset of the Baltimore Colts. He was selected to the AFL’s all-time team before it merged with the NFL in 1970. He’s also enshrined in the Broncos’ Ring of Fame.
June 14 – Homer Jones, 82, an NFL wide receiver for seven seasons, is credited for inventing the spike as a touchdown celebration. After the NFL instituted a fine in 1965 for throwing the ball in the stands, which some players did to celebrate TDs, Jones decided instead to forcefully throw the ball to the ground. Jones was a two-time Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro in 1968 for the New York Giants.
Homer Jones passed away at the age of 82.
• Played with the Giants from 1964-1969
• 2x Pro Bowler (1967 and 1968)
• Led NFL in Receiving Touchdowns (1967)
• First player to spike the football after scoring a TDR.I.P. Homer Jones #NYGiants pic.twitter.com/G3H8Qfn0PD
— Giants Fans Online (@NYGFansOnline) June 15, 2023
June 16 – Bob Brown, 81, was a five-time first-team NFL All-Pro at right tackle for the Eagles and Rams during his 10-year career from 1964-73. He was the second overall pick in the 1964 NFL draft after being a unanimous All-American in his senior season at Nebraska. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1993 and joined the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2004, the same year Nebraska retired his No. 64.
June 19 – Clark Haggans, 46, arrived in Pittsburgh as a fifth-round draft pick in 2000 and didn’t become a starting outside linebacker until 2004. But from 2004-06, he formed fearsome defensive bookends with Joey Porter, a period that included the Steelers’ last Super Bowl victory. He left for Arizona in 2008 and played his final year with San Francisco.
June 24 – Dean Smith, 91, played football and ran track at the University of Texas, and won a gold medal at the 1952 Olympics as the leadoff runner for the U.S. men’s 4×100-meter relay. He made his living, though, as a Hollywood stuntman, doubling for John Wayne, James Garner, and Robert Redford (he even fell out of a second-story window doubling for Maureen O’Hara in the film “McLintock.”) He’s a member of the Stuntman Hall of Fame and the University of Texas Hall of Fame.
June 27 – Ryan Mallett, 35, had an eight-year NFL career, mostly as backup QB to Tom Brady in New England and Joe Flacco in Baltimore. He made six starts over two seasons for Houston and two for the Ravens following injuries to Flacco and Matt Schaub in 2015. He started a handful of games as a freshman at Michigan but transferred to Arkansas after a coaching change, where he was twice second-team All-SEC and finished seventh in Heisman voting in 2010.
June 30 – Darren Drozdov, 54, played football at Maryland and for three seasons in the NFL but was better known in professional wrestling as Droz. He appeared in six games in 1993 as a defensive tackle for the Broncos. In 1997, he made his pro wrestling debut in the ECW before moving to WWF in 1998 and quickly becoming a member of the Legion of Doom. A severe neck injury from a 1999 bout ended his career and put him in a wheelchair, but he remained with the company as a writer.
July
July 3 – Vince Tobin, 79, spent 30 years in football, primarily as a defensive coordinator in the NFL. He started at the University of Missouri in 1971 and worked his way through the CFL and USFL before landing with the Chicago Bears in 1986. He was named head coach of the Arizona Cardinals in 1996, spending five seasons in the role. In 1998, he led the franchise to its first playoff victory since 1947.
July 6 – Gene Gaines, 85, is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame after playing 16 seasons as a defensive back in the CFL following a standout career at UCLA. He was a CFL All-Star three times, and set a CFL record with a 128-yard kickoff return in a playoff game for Ottawa in 1964. He re-joined Montreal in 1970 as a player and defensive backs coach. In all, he played on four Grey Cup-winning teams: Ottawa (1968, ’69) and Montreal (1970, ’74).
July 7 – Nikki McCray-Penson, 51, won gold medals at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics as a member of the U.S. women’s basketball team. She was twice named the SEC’s player of the year at Tennessee. She played eight seasons in the WNBA from its inception in 1998 through 2006, and was a three-time All-Star with the Washington Mystics. She was also MVP of the short-lived American Basketball League in 1997. She was a longtime assistant on Dawn Staley’s coaching staff at South Carolina before taking on top roles at Old Dominion and Mississippi State.
July 16 – Funny Cide, 23, was the first New York-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby in 2003 and is among the small handful of horses to win the Derby and Preakness Stakes before falling short of the Triple Crown in the Belmont. He raced until he was seven and remained popular with fans in retirement. A statue of him was erected in Saratoga Springs, New York, in 2012.
July 25 – Johnny Lujack, 98, led Notre Dame to three national football championships and won the Heisman Trophy in 1947. His college days were interrupted in the middle while he served two years in the Navy during World War II. He lettered in four sports in 1947, was a unanimous All-American in football for the second time, and was named The Associated Press’ Athlete of the Year. He played four seasons in the NFL quarterbacking the Chicago Bears. He made two Pro Bowls and was a first-team All-Pro in 1950.
July 25 – Rocky Wirtz, 70, was a third-generation owner and chairman of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks, succeeding his father Bill in 2007. Stars like Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull who’d become estranged from the team during Bill’s tenure were welcomed back by Rocky. The franchise – which had only won three Stanley Cups since joining the NHL in 1926, its last in 1961 – had its greatest success on the ice during Rocky’s tenure, winning three championships in 2010, 2013, and 2015.
August
Aug. 6 – Gilles Gilbert, 74, was drafted by the Minnesota North Stars in 1969 and made his debut in net the same season. But it wasn’t until 1973, after being traded to Boston, that he found his home in the league. He led the Bruins to the Stanley Cup final in 1974 and held the crease until Gerry Cheevers returned from the WHA. They split time for three seasons until Gilbert was traded to Detroit in 1980.
Aug. 7 – Zenon Andrusyshyn, 76, accidentally found his athletic calling as a kicker when his javelin career went sideways. He was born in postwar Germany but his family settled in Oakville, Ontario. A track scholarship took him to UCLA, but he injured his elbow training for the 1968 Olympics. He walked on to the Bruins’ football team and became a two-time All-American punter while also handling placekicking duties. He was cut by the Dallas Cowboys in his first season out of college but signed with Toronto of the CFL in 1971. He spent 12 of the next 16 years kicking and punting in Canada with brief sojourns to the NFL and USFL.
Aug. 14 – Rodion Amirov, 21, made his debut in the KHL at the age of 19 and was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round in 2020. He signed a three-year entry-level contract in 2021 and played two more seasons in the KHL but was never able to suit up for the Leafs or their AHL affiliate. In 2022, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
Aug. 14 – Bob Baun, 86, won four Stanley Cups as a defenseman with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1962-64 and 1967. He only scored three goals in 92 playoff games but one stood out: In Game 6 of the 1964 Final, he returned to the ice with a broken ankle and scored the overtime winner against Detroit to force a Game 7, which Toronto won for its third straight Cup. He joined Oakland for a season in 1968 via the expansion draft but eventually finished his career back with the Leafs from 1970-72.
Aug. 17 – Rick Jeanneret, 81, was the voice of the Buffalo Sabres for 51 years, the longest tenure in NHL history. His signature calls like “La-la-la-la-Fontaine!” and “Top shelf, where mama hides the cookies!” helped him become known by fans outside Buffalo. In 2012, he received the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Foster Hewitt Memorial Award, ensuring his broadcasting legacy would live on.
Aug. 19 – Maxie Baughan, 85, made nine Pro Bowls and earned six All-Pro selections as an outside linebacker during his 12 seasons in the NFL with the Eagles and Rams (and one comeback season at age 36 with Washington). As a rookie, he was a starter on Philadelphia’s 1960 NFL Championship team. In college at Georgia Tech, he started at center and linebacker, was a consensus All-American in 1959, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988.
Aug. 22 – Alexandra Paul, 31, was a Canadian junior ice dance champion and three-time senior bronze medalist with partner and eventual husband Mitchell Islam. They were fixtures during the heyday of Canadian ice dancing, earning a silver medal at the 2010 world junior championships and competing at the 2014 Olympics along with Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, and Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje.
Aug. 23 – Terry Funk, 79, was active in professional wrestling for 50 years in almost every promotion there was. He was a heavyweight champion in ECW, NWA, and USWA, and earned numerous tag-team titles with his brother Dory. Wrestling in 1998 as Chainsaw Charlie and teamed with Mick Foley’s Cactus Jack, they defeated the New Age Outlaws at Wrestlemania XIV for the WWE’s tag-team belt. Both Funks were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.
Aug. 24 – Bray Wyatt, 36, was a third-generation professional wrestler who started in WWE’s development circuit and earned a call-up to the big league for good in 2012. He held a world championship belt three times: the WWE Championship in 2017, and later twice held the Universal Championship performing as The Fiend. He also claimed tag-team championships on Smackdown and Raw.
Aug. 27 – Pat Corrales, 82, spent nine years in the majors as a backup catcher to bigger names like Tim McCarver and Johnny Bench. At age 37, he was named manager of the Texas Rangers, his first of three stints as the bench boss. He had a season and a half leading the Phillies and parts of five seasons in Cleveland. He never managed again but coached for more than 20 more years, including 17 on Bobby Cox’s staff in Atlanta. He earned his only World Series ring with the Braves in 1995.
Aug. 31 – Gil Brandt, 91, was the Dallas Cowboys’ chief personnel man from their inception in 1960 through Jerry Jones’ purchase of the team in 1989. Brandt formed a powerful triumvirate with GM Tex Schramm and head coach Tom Landry as the Cowboys won five NFC championships and two Super Bowls. He is widely credited with modernizing scouting with his innovations spreading across the league.
September
Sept. 4 – Eddie Meador, 86, played with the Los Angeles Rams from 1959-70 as a cornerback and safety, earning two first-team All-Pro nods in his 30s. He still holds the franchise record for interceptions and is tied for fumbles recovered on defense. He was selected to the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 1960s.
Sept. 11 – Point Given, 25, finished fifth in the 2001 Kentucky Derby but went on to win the Preakness and Belmont and two more million-dollar stakes that summer. He was inducted into the racing hall of fame in 2010.
Sept. 12 – Mike Williams, 36, played five seasons at wide receiver in the NFL, four of them with Tampa Bay. He finished second to Sam Bradford in voting for Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2010 after catching 65 balls for 964 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Sept. 18 – Henry Boucha, 72, was a standout Indigenous hockey player from Minnesota who earned an Olympic silver medal and played six seasons in the NHL and WHA. He joined the U.S. national team in 1970, playing in the 1971 world championship and finishing second at the 1972 Olympics. He was drafted in the second round by Detroit of the NHL and first overall by Minnesota of the WHA in 1971. Choosing the NHL, he made his debut following the Olympics and scored in his first game. An injury to his eye from his first season with the Minnesota North Stars derailed his career in 1975. He played half a year in the WHA and tried coming back to the NHL but retired in November 1976.
Sept. 24 – Tim Foley, 75, was an 11-year cornerback who won two Super Bowls with the Miami Dolphins, including the undefeated 1972 team. Foley was a 1969 All-American at Purdue and was a third-round pick in head coach Don Shula’s first Dolphins draft class after coming over from Baltimore.
Sept. 30 – Chris Snow, 42, was a sportswriter turned team executive who was an assistant GM with the NHL’s Calgary Flames since 2019. He started his career writing for his hometown Boston Globe and left the business in 2006 when the Minnesota Wild hired him as their director of hockey operations. He joined the Flames in 2011. In addition to his work and family, his last four years included his public battle with ALS.
October
Oct. 1 – Tim Wakefield, 57, was the last great knuckleball pitcher in Major League Baseball, pitching for 17 seasons with Pittsburgh and Boston. An eighth-round draft pick of the Pirates in 1988, he made his debut in the majors in 1992, finishing third in NL Rookie of the Year voting – without his signature pitch. He didn’t fare well the next two years and was released, but then began working with longtime knuckleball aces Phil and Joe Niekro, and signed with Boston. In his first year with the knuckleball, he finished third in AL Cy Young voting. He became a Red Sox rotation stalwart before retiring in 2011.
Oct. 1 – Russ Francis, 70, was a three-time Pro Bowl tight end and two-time second-team All-Pro with New England in the 1970s and a member of San Francisco’s Super Bowl XIX-winning team in 1985. He missed the 1981 season in a pay dispute with the Patriots before signing with the 49ers in 1982. He had a brief pro wrestling career after he retired from football in 1989, appearing at WrestleMania 2 in a 20-man battle royale with wrestling pros and other NFL players.
Oct. 10 – Brendan Malone, 81, only had 100 games in the NBA as a head coach but spent 31 years as a highly regarded assistant in college and the NBA. Notably, he was Chuck Daly’s assistant in Detroit when the Bad Boys Pistons won back-to-back NBA titles in 1989 and 1990. When Pistons’ great Isiah Thomas became general manager of the expansion Toronto Raptors, he hired Malone as the first head coach. That only lasted one year and Malone’s only other stint in the top job was the final 18 games of Cleveland’s season in 2005.
Oct. 11 – Walt Garrison, 79, was a fullback and leading pass-catcher for the Dallas Cowboys’ first Super Bowl team in 1971. He combined with Duane Thomas and Calvin Hill to power the Cowboys’ indomitable rushing attack; the trio ran for 195 yards in the 24-3 win over Miami in Super Bowl VI. Garrison competed in rodeos in the offseason and a knee injury sustained in a steer-wrestling competition forced him retire before the 1975 season after nine years with Dallas.
Oct. 14 – Andy Bean, 70, was a three-time runner-up in golf majors and won 11 times on the PGA TOUR in his career. He was a three-time All-American at Florida and teamed with Gary Koch, Woody Blackburn, and Phil Hancock to win the 1973 NCAA championship. As a pro, he was second to Tom Watson at the 1983 Open Championship and was twice runner-up at the PGA Championship in 1980 and 1989.
Oct. 21 – Betsy Rawls, 95, was one of the early greats of the LPGA Tour, winning eight majors and 55 tournaments overall. She remains sixth in Tour history on both leaderboards. She and Mickey Wright are the only players to win four U.S. Women’s Open titles. She was one of the inaugural inductees into the Tour’s Hall of Fame in 1967 and was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame 20 years later.
Oct. 26 – Bingo Smith, 77, is one of seven players whose number is retired by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was drafted sixth overall in 1969 by the San Diego Rockets but joined Cleveland the next season via the expansion draft. He was part of the core that helped the Cavs rise in relevance until they made the playoffs for the first time in 1976 and won their first series in seven games over the Washington Bullets, who’d gone to the NBA Finals the previous year. He remains in the top 10 in several franchise categories, including sixth in points scored.
Oct. 28 – Adam Johnson, 29, was a member of the University of Minnesota-Duluth’s 2017 Frozen Four team that finished runner-up to Denver. He signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins out of a tryout camp and played 13 games in the NHL in 2019. After a couple more seasons in the AHL, he went overseas, playing in the German and British leagues. His on-ice death brought worldwide attention to the issue of neck guards and player safety.
Oct. 30 – Frank Howard, 87, stood 6-foot-7 and was nicknamed the “Washington Monument” during his mid-career seasons with baseball’s Senators. He broke in with the Dodgers in 1958 and was named NL Rookie of the Year in 1960. Following the 1964 season, L.A. shipped Howard to Washington as part of a package, and it was in the nation’s capital that he turned into a star. He made four consecutive All-Star Games from 1968-71, hit 40 or more home runs three times, and led the league twice.
November
Nov. 2 – Walter Davis, 69, was a standout basketball player at North Carolina and with the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. In his senior season at UNC, he led the Tar Heels to the 1977 Final Four, where they lost in the final to Marquette. He was the No. 5 pick in the draft by the Suns and went on to appear in six All-Star Games in 11 seasons. He remains the franchise leader in points and his No. 6 was retired in 1994. He rounded out his career with four seasons in Denver and Portland.
Nov. 11 – D.J. Hayden, 33, played nine seasons in the NFL at cornerback with Oakland, Detroit, Jacksonville, and Washington. His college career began at Navarro College where he helped the Bulldogs to the national junior college championship in 2010. He transferred to Houston for his final two years and was named all-conference in his senior season. The Raiders made him the 12th overall pick in the 2013 draft.
Nov. 12 – Roman Cechmanek, 52, had a brief but notable career as a goaltender in the NHL with Philadelphia and Los Angeles. He didn’t arrive in the NHL until the age of 29 despite his accomplishments at home in Czechia with HC Vsetin and the national team. He was Dominik Hasek’s backup on the 1998 Olympic gold-medal team and led his country to the 2000 world championship title. He made the leap to the NHL for the 2000-01 season, where he quickly took over the No. 1 job in Philly, finishing second in Vezina Trophy voting and fourth in the Hart race. He and teammate Robert Esche shared the Jennings Trophy for fewest team goals against with Martin Brodeur in 2003. He was traded to the Kings before the season-long lockout in ’04 and decided to play in Europe after it ended.
Nov. 14 – Peter Seidler, 63, the grandson of legendary Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley, carried on his family’s tradition in baseball as the managing partner of the San Diego Padres ownership group from 2012 until his death. He was beloved in San Diego for spending on players to make the Padres competitive with the Dodgers in the NL West. Seidler, who was a private equity fund executive, partnered with MLB to buy Rawlings, the league’s supplier of baseballs, in 2018.
Nov. 15 – Ken Squier, 88, was the voice of NASCAR telecasts for 21 years, starting with the first live telecast of the Daytona 500 in 1979. He began as a pit reporter for CBS’s NASCAR coverage in 1971 and was the primary race caller for CBS until 1997 and for TBS until 1999. After he left the booth in 1999, he remained host of TBS’s prerace studio show for another year. He called a variety of sports, including working for CBS’s coverage of the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics.
Nov. 16 – Johnny Green, 89, was a 6-foot-5 rebounding savant who starred at Michigan State after a stint in the Marines and played 14 seasons in the NBA. He averaged 16.9 points and 16.4 rebounds a game in three seasons with the Spartans. The Knicks made him the No. 5 pick in the 1959 NBA draft, and he played there for six seasons, earning three All-Star selections. He later played with Baltimore, San Diego, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Kansas City. His No. 24 was retired by MSU in 1992.
Nov. 20 – Willie Hernández, 69, pitched for 13 seasons in the majors and won both the Cy Young and MVP awards in the American League in 1984. He broke in with the Chicago Cubs in 1977 and was traded to Philadelphia in 1983. During spring training in 1984, he was acquired by Detroit along with Dave Bergman in a deal that locked in the roster that would start the season 35-5 and win the World Series. Hernandez threw 80 games in relief that year, covering 140 innings. He was 9-3 with a 1.90 ERA and 32 saves.
Nov. 23 – Harald Hasselbach, 56, played professional football for 11 seasons, four in the CFL with Calgary and seven in the NFL with Denver. The defensive end won three league championships: the 1992 Grey Cup and Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII following the 1997 and 1998 seasons.
Nov. 25 – Terry Venables, 80, had a 15-year career as a player in the upper levels of English soccer and moved almost immediately into managing teams for the next 40 years. Venables made his initial first-division appearance with Chelsea in 1959. He later played with Tottenham starting in 1966, with Queen Park Rangers in 1969, and Crystal Palace in 1974. He retired from play in the middle of the 1974-75 season and immediately moved into a coaching role for third-division Palace in the back half of the campaign. He was elevated to manager in 1976. From there, he led a raft of teams including QPR, Barcelona, Spurs, as well as England’s and Australia’s national teams.
December
Dec. 9 – Frank Wycheck, 52, played tight end in the NFL for 11 seasons. After being drafted by Washington in 1993, he landed with the Houston Oilers in 1995 and became their primary starter for the rest of his career. He was selected to three straight Pro Bowls from 1998-2000. He is best remembered for initiating the Music City Miracle in the 2000 AFC wild-card game when he lateraled the ball to Kevin Dyson on a kickoff that was returned for a touchdown with three seconds left.
Dec. 14 – George McGinnis, 73, was a basketball star in Indiana in his younger days, winning a high school state championship in 1969, earning All-American status in his one year at the University of Indiana, then leaving early to sign with the ABA’s Indiana Pacers, where he led them to the league title in his first two seasons. After four years with the Pacers, he opted to move to the NBA. He averaged 22 points and 12 rebounds in three seasons with Philadelphia and teamed with Julius Erving to take the Sixers to the NBA Finals in 1977. His 11-year pro career wound down back in Indiana, now an NBA squad. The Pacers retired his No. 30 and he was selected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.
Dec. 17 – Eric Montross, 52, was a 7-foot center who was a three-year starter for Dean Smith at North Carolina and then played eight seasons in the NBA. Montross was the season’s leading scorer on a balanced Tar Heels squad that defeated Michigan’s Fab Five in the 1993 NCAA Final. He earned second-team All-American honors in his final two years and was selected ninth overall by Boston in the 1994 NBA Draft. After a successful rookie season, he never found his foothold in the pros and ended up being traded five times. He retired in 2003 because of a foot injury.
Dec. 19 – Ed Budde, 83, was the left guard for the legendary Kansas City Chiefs teams that won two AFL championships and defeated Minnesota in Super Bowl IV. He was a first-round draft pick in both leagues coming out of Michigan State in 1963. He earned five AFL All-Star nods and made two NFL Pro Bowl appearances after the 1970 merger. He was selected to the first team of the all-time All-AFL squad and was elevated to the Chiefs Ring of Honor in 1984.
Dec. 21 – Paula Murphy, 95, was the first woman licensed to race funny cars in the NHRA and set an assortment of straight-line speed and speed-distance records in her driving career. STP brought her to the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1963, where she set a women’s land-speed record of 161 mph. A year later, Goodyear sponsored her attempt, which she improved to 226 mph. She started in drag racing in 1964 in southern California, competing for more than a decade. She was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1992. The Motorsports Hall of Fame enshrined her in 2017.
Dec. 27 – Herb Kohl, 88, was the owner of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks from 1985-2014. His family started in the grocery business and built it into a conglomerate of grocery and department stores. He was also a four-term U.S. senator for the state of Wisconsin. Kohl purchased the Bucks when the owners were looking to sell and it was feared out-of-town interests would purchase and move the team.
Guy Spurrier is theScore’s features editor.
