Greg Moore - Age 24 - CART World Series - Moore lost control of his car in the exit of turn 2 and spun into the infield grass at more than 200 mph. His car hit an access road and was tripped over to strike the infield concrete wall sideways with the top of the car directly facing the wall at unabated speed. Moore was critically injured in the crash and was airlifted to Loma Linda University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Or the 50+ Italian footballers that died of the same thing in the eighties/nineties.
Sawchuk’s whole life was a tragedy – apparently he suffered from untreated depression. He wanted to be a goalie like his older brother, who he idolized, then his brother died when of a heart attack at 17. When Sawchuk was twelve he injured his elbow, and the injury didn’t heal properly, leaving one arm shorter than the other. He suffered a LOT of injuries, appendicitis, and hunching over in the crease gave him permanent back problems. Oh, AND he was an alcoholic. Dude was a walking mess. His wife ended up leaving him because he always violent when he was drunk and he was constantly cheating on her. Jesus.
LOTTA hockey players seem to die young, it seems. 
-Michel Briere – the only Penguin other than Mario Lemieux to have his number retired. He died in a car accident when he was only 21.
-Luc Bourdon of the Vancouver Canucks, killed in a motorcycle accident, also only 21.
-Howie Morenz, the Montreal Canadiens. He was only 34. Died from complications from a broken leg.
-Brendan Burke, another hockey player who died in a car accident when he was only 21. Burke’s coming out inspired his father, Brian Burke to start the You Can Play project, to help combat homophobia in sports.
–Derek Boogard, 28, of the New York Rangers. Died of an overdose in 2011. Shortly there after, two other NHL enforcers, Rick Rypien (27) and Wade Belek (35) also died. The latter two were suicides, possibly Boogard’s as well. Autopsies confirmed that Boogard was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, caused by multiple concussions. It’s possible the other two were as well.
–Bob Probert, notorious fighter in the NHL, died of a heart attack when he was only 45. He too was found to be suffering from CTE.
–Russian hockey player Valeri Kharlamov died in a car accident when he was only 33.
–Michel Larocque, NHL goaltender died of brain cancer when he was only 40.
–The entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team died in a plane crash in 2011 (damn, 2011 sucked for hockey, didn’t it? That’s also the year Sidney Crosby got his concussion!). Ages ranged from 18-38.
And of course, the late, great Roberto Clemente of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was killed in a plane crash, delivering supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. He was 38. Killed delivering supplies to earthquake victims – how fucked up is that?
What was even more fucked up was the fact that much of money and supplies that was supposed to go to the Nicaraguan earthquake victims ended up being embezzled by the corrupt Somoza regime. In fact, years after the earthquake, parts of Managua remained unreconstructed.
Yep – in fact, that’s why he was going there to deliver help in person. Fuck Somoza.
Those the Andes Survivors ate and left behind.
John Kordic - On August 8, 1992, after overdosing on drugs and being involved in a struggle with police at Motel Maxim in L’Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec, Kordic died of lung failure due to heart malfunction. At his time of death, Kordic was 27 years old.
Nate Robinson is 5’ 9".
Marv Goodwin, pitcher for the Cards after WWI, died in a plane crash at 34. Ironically, he was a flying instructor for WWI.
Al Montgomery was a backup catcher for the Dodgers in 1941. He died in a car accident followng next season’s spring training, age 21.
Paul Edmundson pitched 14 games for the White Sox in '69. Killed in a car accident on his way to spring training, age 27.
Walt Lerian was a backup secondbaseman for the Phillies in '28 & '29; struck by a runaway truck and pinned against a brick wall in his hometown of Baltimore at age 26.
Danny Frisella, relief pitcher for the Mets, Braves, Padres, Cards, and Brewers, overturned his dune buggy outside Phoenix on New Years Day, 1977, age 30.
Cliff Young, reliever for the Indians in '90, '91, and '93, died in a car accident eight months after Olin & Crews. He was 29.
Already mentioned but Ayrton Senna and Len Bias are the two big names that come to mind.
The first one who came to mind for me was Flo-Jo. Florence Griffith Joyner - Wikipedia Thirty-eight is way, way too young.
Sawchuk’s death was a very big story when I was 9 or so. I grew up in New York, and Sawchuk was Eddie Giacomin’s backup for the Rangers at the time. The exact details of what happened were very sketchy, and we may never know who (if anyone) was at fault. But for a long time, Ron Stewart was facing manslaughter charges. At long last, the D.A.'s office declined to prosecute.
Sawchuk, who lingered in the hospital for some time before dying, didn’t seem to blame Stewart. He made the incident sound like drunken horseplay that went a little too far. And maybe that’s all it was- but teammates all seemed to agree that Sawchuk and Stewart were an Odd Couple (Stewart was the fastidious, perfectionist Felix in the relationship) who loved each other but aggravated each other, and were constantly pushing each other’s buttons.
Maybe Sawchuk’s death was a fluky accident result from two inebriated pals clowning around… or maybe two guys who regularly pissed each other off got into a fight that went farther than either intended.
In the interest of clarity, Brendan Burke had stopped playing hockey a few years before his death. He can’t really be described as an athlete in the sense generally meant in this thread. He was setting out on a career on the management side of sports, though, and if he took after hs father obviously had a pretty good chance at success.
Sergei Grinkov.Top notch skater who died age 28 of a massive heart attack with no warning.
How could I forget the last white player to lead the NBA in scoring?
Pistol Pete Maravich was only 40 when he died during a shirts and skins pickup basketball game with several friends, including famed conservative evangelical James Dobson.
Apparently, Pete had a congenital heart problem nobody knew about.
RickJay, I didn’t know that – thanks for fighting my ignorance. 
Another goalie: Georges Vezina, died of tuberculosis at age 39. The NHL award for best goalie, is named after him – the Vezina Trophy.
Seattle Mariners outfielder Greg Halman was murdered at age 24 by his younger brother at their home in The Netherlands in 2011.
8 Manchester United football (soccer) players killed in plane crash 2-6-58
18 USA figure skaters (the entire national team) killed in plane crash 2-15-61
37 Marshall University football (American) players killed in plane crash 11-14-70
Jerome Brown died after an auto accident at the age of 27. Often considered the best member of the Eagles’ defensive line, its even more impressive when considering Hall of Famer Reggie White was on that same line.
Colonial-Wichita St also had a plane crash during the 70s.