# Has an NFL player ever died during a game? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 29, 2004, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-nfl-player-ever-died-during-a-game/277198 "2004-11-29T20:02:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-nfl-player-ever-died-during-a-game/277198/1 "2004-11-29T20:02:36Z")
As I was watching this weekend’s games, with the usual bumps and bruises, this question occurred to me. I know there have been the occassional serious injury – I remember watching Joe Theisman’s leg snap on Monday NIght Football. I know some players have died during training camps/practices. Of course, other players have died in ordinary accidents, crimes, drug abuse, illnesses, and the other things that afflict all of us. And we all rememember Pat Tillman, who was killed in combat in Afghanistan. But has a player ever died as a result of something that happened during an actual football game? Okay, not a cheerful question, but I was just wondering. The NFL’s website doesn’t seem to mention player health, beyond weekly injury reports. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-nfl-player-ever-died-during-a-game/277198/2 "2004-11-29T20:28:13Z")
I believe the answer is no for the NFL. In the early days of \*college \* football, a century ago, player deaths were so common that President Teddy Roosevelt made noises about banning it altogether. The major colleges took control of their programs from the student groups who had been running it (very profitably for themselves, not coincidentally), and imposed game rules and other controls to limit the damage. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-nfl-player-ever-died-during-a-game/277198/3 "2004-11-29T20:34:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Has an NFL player ever died during a game? I die a little bit inside everytime Eli Manning throws an interception. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-nfl-player-ever-died-during-a-game/277198/4 "2004-11-29T20:35:06Z")
A Detroit Lion player (who’s name escapes me at the moment) died of a heart attack during a game, but I don’t believe anyone has died of injuries sustained on the field. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-nfl-player-ever-died-during-a-game/277198/5 "2004-11-29T20:40:14Z")
Apparently, the last on the field player fatality during an NFL game was Chuck Hughes (Detroit Lions) who had a heart attack. That doesn’t preclude the possibility of someone sustaining injuries which they later died from. More recently, Korey Stringer (Minnesota Vikings) died of heat stroke during practice camp, but that wasn’t during a game. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-nfl-player-ever-died-during-a-game/277198/6 "2004-11-29T20:45:52Z")
Oh, and Hughes was in 1971. He was a wide receiver, and collapsed on the field after running a pass route. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-nfl-player-ever-died-during-a-game/277198/7 "2004-11-30T00:10:14Z")
There’s a link to an interesting article here about his widow [here.](http://www.freep.com/sports/othersports/qhughes9.htm) ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-nfl-player-ever-died-during-a-game/277198/8 "2004-11-30T00:34:39Z")
Part of local legend around here is Jay Seiler, a freshman on the UW football team who died from a head injury sustained in practice in 1979. I don’t know of any NFL (or major college) player that has died from an in-game injury. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-nfl-player-ever-died-during-a-game/277198/9 "2004-11-30T03:37:22Z")
I remember reading a story just this year about either a High School or non-major division college player who died after a helmet to helmet collision. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-nfl-player-ever-died-during-a-game/277198/10 "2004-11-30T07:29:41Z")
The 49ers have done a lot of choking this year, but all the players have thus far survived. Can’t really tell you if that’s a GOOD thing or not, though. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-nfl-player-ever-died-during-a-game/277198/11 "2004-11-30T07:53:39Z")
In the early days of football (late 19th century) several collegiate players (18 is a figure I saw quoted) were killed during games. The sport was incredibly brutal then. Little or no pads, no helmets, just huge collisions and piles. Flying wedges were popular. You would kickoff and the receiving team would all gather around the ball carrier and run up the field in a tight formation that was nearly impossible to break through. Theodore Roosevelt pretty much told university presidents to clean up the sport or he would have it abolished. This led to numerous changes in the rules, most notably the introduction of the forward pass and regulations on blocking that prevented players from locking their arms with a teammate while blocking. If you go to the high school level, deaths as the result of on-field activity are rare, but still happen. [http://studentsports.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=354169](http://studentsports.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=354169) ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-nfl-player-ever-died-during-a-game/277198/12 "2004-11-30T13:42:32Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > Flying wedges were popular. You would kickoff and the receiving team would all gather around the ball carrier and run up the field in a tight formation that was nearly impossible to break through. A minor nitpick, but I believe it was the _kicking_ team that would perform the flying wedge. They would tap the ball forward one yard, then pick it up and march downfield in formation. This play was outlawed by a combination of the rule against interlocking interference (including the use of special [equipment](http://collegefootball.org/sidewedge.php)) and the requirement that a kickoff travel ten yards before being touched by the kicking team. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-nfl-player-ever-died-during-a-game/277198/13 "2004-11-30T19:19:35Z")
The flying wedge was a play from scrimmage. At the time there was no requirement that the offensive team have seven players on the line of scrimmage. This allowed the offensive team to line up with most of the players in two lines angled about forty-five degrees from the line of scrimmage with the receiver of the snap in the middle. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-nfl-player-ever-died-during-a-game/277198/14 "2004-11-30T22:24:25Z")
I stand corrected. The flying wedge (in the “classic” sense) was indeed used by the kicking team. But it was also modified to be used from scrimmage. [http://www.the-game.org/history-flyingwedge.htm](http://www.the-game.org/history-flyingwedge.htm) One of the football Halls of Fame has a “flying wedge” belt on display. The belt had handles on it so everybody could grab on better. Since interlocking interference is illegal as well as having anyone in motion toward the line of scrimmage, you can’t do it anymore. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-nfl-player-ever-died-during-a-game/277198/15 "2004-12-01T03:31:06Z")
It’s worth mentioning that there has been a major-league _baseball_ player killed on the field: Ray Chapman, hit by a pitch in 1919. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-nfl-player-ever-died-during-a-game/277198/16 "2004-12-01T05:26:01Z")
> [@furt](#): > > It’s worth mentioning that there has been a major-league _baseball_ player killed on the field: Ray Chapman, hit by a pitch in 1919. Actually, Chapman was killed by a Carl Mays pitch in August of 1920. Zev Steinhardt