There’s been a slew of footballers (soccer players) who collapsed and died from heart conditions. Marc-Vivien Foé and Miklós Fehér spring to mind.
Flo Hyman (31) of Marfan’s Syndrome.
Archie Jackson was seen by some in the media as being the equal of the slightly older Donald Bradman before he fell ill in 1929 and subsequently died in 1933 at the age of just 23.
Clearly those expectations were a bit unreasonable given what Bradman later achieved.
But Jackson may very well have been another McCabe or Ponsford.
Eric Liddell, “The Flying Scotsman” who came to fame in Chariots of Fire, died at the age of 42, in a Japanese prison camp in China.
Terry Sawchuk, one of the greatest goalies in NHL history, died at the age of 40, due to internal injuries sustained in a drunken scuffle with teammate/roommate Ron Stewart.
Willard Hershberger was a .300 hitting catcher for Cincinnati Reds backing up Hall-of-Famer Ernie Lombardi. He played on the same high school team as Arky Vaughn and Richard M. Nixon. The Reds won the national League in Hershberger’s second season with them in 1939 and in 1940 were doing well when Lombardi got hurt. Hershberger had been hitting well until then but he slumped after taking over as the starter. After going hitless in a doubleheader he threatened to kill himself as his father had done. The manager and others managed to calm him down. The following day he said he wasn’t feeling well and would not play. The day after that he failed to show for the first game of a doubleheader and Gabe Paul and others went to the hotel where his body was found, the only major league player to kill himself during the season. The Reds went on to win the National League and the World Series.
Gilles Villeneuve - died after an accident during the final qualifying session for the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder. He was 32.
1996 Indy 500 pole-sitter Scott Brayton killed in practice before that year’s race.
Korey Stringer, offensive tackle for the Vikings, died from heat stroke early in training camp. I remain convinced that he’d be Hall of Fame bound if not for that. His death did do some good however, as sports teams at all levels started to finally take the risk of heat stroke seriously.
Bill Masterton, center for the North Stars in their inaugural season. Although he was a mediocre player, he remains the only NHL player from the modern era to die due to injuries suffered in a game. His death from a head injury led to the adoption of helmets by the NHL about a decade later. He’s also the namesake for one of the NHL annual trophies.
Also Pelle Lindbergh, goalie for the Flyers, who had become one of my favorite players and top goalies in the NHL before he killed himself in a single-car accident.
He was a great goalie but don’t sugar coat it. He died whilst driving drunk. His BAC was 0.24%, more that double the limit of the time and triple the current limit.
More Olympics:
Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya won the 2008 Olympic marathon at age 21 and died in strange circumstances three years later. He either fell or jumped off of a balcony at his house.
Ivo van Damme of Belgium was 22 when he won two silver medals at the 1976 Olympics, in the 800 and 1500. He died in a car crash later that year.
Well, I guess you can say the same thing about Tim Horton, although he was 44 at the time. He was still playing though.
“Who’s the only Celtic under 6 feet?”
There are 2 answers, actually - Reggie Lewis works too.
Eric Turner was a stud safety for the Browns/Ravens. He made a couple Pro Bowls and died at age 31 of intestinal cancer.
Joe Delaney, running back for the Kansas City Chiefs in the early 1980s. He ran for 1100 yards as a rookie, and made the Pro Bowl. During the off-season after his second year in the league, he drowned while attempting to rescue several children who were, themselves, drowning in a pond.
Josh Hancock - Pitcher for the Cardinals. 29 years old. On Sunday, April 29, 2007, Hancock was killed in a motor vehicle accident when the 2007 Ford Explorer he was driving while intoxicated struck the rear of a flat bed tow truck at 12:35 a.m. Central Time.
Definitely didn’t mean to. I changed “was killed” from my initial draft to “killed himself” in what I posted. After the edit window closed, I realized that I should have written “stupidly killed himself.” I was a North Star fan, and it was unusual for me to follow players on other teams unless they had played for the Stars. After the initial shock wore off, I felt extremely betrayed.
Pat Tillman
Wouter Weylandt who died in the 2011 Giro d’Italia at age 26.
Just like Fabio Casartelli in the Tour of 1995.
Edwin Valero had an unheard of boxing record of 27 fights. All Wins, every one by knockout, 19 of which were first round knockouts.
He was beginning to step up his competition and get the really big fights. The next thing you know he’s arrested for killing his wife and then commits suicide in jail. He was only 28.