obits Page index.xml - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Wrestling world mourns loss of Pat Patterson, pioneer and first openly gay star
In 1979 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Pat Patterson became the first Intercontinental Champion in WWE (then WWF) history by unifying the WWF North American Championship and a South American Championship. He is credited with the creation of the Royal Rumble, where the first-ever was held in 1988, a matc...
Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka Dies At Age 73, Weeks After Murder Case Dismissed
Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, the legendary wrestler more recently charged with the 1983 death of his girlfriend, has died. He was 73. The case against Snuka was dismissed earlier this month after a judge ruled him incompetent to stand trial. His death was announced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. ...
Prince Is Dead, Long Live Prince
So it’s true: Prince Rogers Nelson, a musician so superhuman that he was convincingly able to go by a single name even though that name is also a word, was found dead this morning at his studio compound in Minnesota. He was 57 years old, which is young for anyone, but so crushingly young for someone...
The King Is Dead
From the essential site Kottke, here is a link to Lester Bang’s obit for Elvis:...
Cardinals Great Stan Musial Dead At 92
Baseball Hall of Famer and unquestionable great Stan "The Man" Musial passed away tonight at 92. Musial started his major league career in 1941 and would play his last game in September of 1963; in the intervening seasons he made 24 All-Star teams, missing out only once, when he was serving in the U...
![Report: Former Cleveland Browns Owner Art Modell Is Gravely Ill [UPDATE]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/17y8kdi5s27gijpg.jpg)
Report: Former Cleveland Browns Owner Art Modell Is Gravely Ill [UPDATE]
Sad news out of Baltimore tonight as Jim Donovan of WKYC in Cleveland is reporting that Art Modell, the former Browns owner who became infamous for moving the franchise to Baltimore after the 1995 season, is in a Baltimore-area hospital and that his "vital organs are failing."...
Gary Coleman Dead at 42, 4'8"
Gary Coleman, the former child star of Diff'rent Strokes and California gubernatorial candidate has passed away after suffering a brain hemorrhage. [People, East Bay Express]...
Former AFL QB, VP Nominee, HUD Secretary Jack Kemp Passes Away At 73
Jack Kemp, best known for his work with supply-side economics and frequent runners-up Bob Dole and the Buffalo Bills, has lost another battle — this one to cancer....
Hall Of Fame Tiger George Kell Passes Away
The passing of an 86-year-old former baseball player—even a Hall of Famer—may not elicit much more than a shrug from most, unless that old man played a pivotal role in your early sports life....
Josh Hancock, One Year Later
It was a year ago today that Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was killed in a drunk driving accident. Since then, sports has learned its lesson, and no longer do alcohol advertisements appear on telecasts of sporting events....
Oldest Living NFL Player Passes On
This handsome, rambunctious gentleman is Sam Dana, a former college football player for Columbia who died yesterday at the age of 104. He was the oldest living former professional player....
R.I.P. Bill Wirtz
They say that no one on their deathbed ever says, "I wish I would have worked more" — other than Jack Donaghy, anyway — but one wonders if, ultimately, former Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz, who died this morning at the age of 77, would have secretly smiled to learn that the first line in his obit invo...
R.I.P. Eddie Griffin
We send our condolences to the family and friends of former Timberwolves guard Eddie Griffin, who was killed last Friday when his SUV hit a moving train. Word of his death in Houston only came out yesterday....
R.I.P. Bill Walsh
As you've surely heard by now, legendary 49ers head coach Bill Walsh has died. He was 75 years old, which is older than we realized; something about the guy always seemed young to us....
Buck O'Neil, Safe At Home
John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil, a star player in the Negro leagues, and recent proponent of Negro league history, died last night. No cause of death was given (though being 94 years old is probably a good enough), but O'Neil had been in and out of the hospital recently....
Randy Walker, R.I.P.
Randy Walker, head coach of the Northwestern Wildcats, died last night of a heart attack. The former Miami of Ohio coach — that school has produced an amazing number of coaches, by the way, from Woody Hayes to Bo Schembechler to Ara Parseghian — had just signed a contract extension in April that wou...
Remembering Kirby Puckett
As you've surely heard by now, Twins Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett died last night at the age of 45. Puckett was a player who was impossible to dislike; he played baseball the way we all imagine we would, if we had the chance. His post-retirement career was smeared by Frank Deford's famous Sports Il...