2011 Notable sports deaths

Italian motorcycle rider Marco Simoncelli died in a collision on Oct. 23 at the age of 23.  (Daniel Munoz/Reuters)

Former heavyweight World boxing champion Joe Frazier died in Philadelphia a month after being diagnosed with liver cancer. He died at the age of 67 years old on Monday, Nov. 7.  (Will Burgess/ Reuters)

Wheldon poses with the BorgWarner trophy the day after winning the Indianapolis 500 auto race in Indianapolis in May 2011.  (Jeff Haynes/Reuters)

Orlando Brown, a former tackle for Baltimore and Cleveland, has died at the age of 40.   (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Former Denver Broncos defensive end and Notre Dame All-American Pete Duranko died on July 8 of Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was 67.   (James Flores/Getty Images)

Longtime NFL tight end John Mackey and the first National Football League Players Association president John Mackey died at the age of 69 after a decade long battle with rontal temporal dementia.   (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

Former UNLV star, and NBA basketball player Armen Gilliam died at the age of 47 while reportedly playing basketball at a gym in Pennsylvania. Gilliam was the No. 2 overall pick in the 1987 NBA draft.   (Photo credit should read MATT CAMPBELL/AFP/Getty Images)

Former NBA All-Star Mike Mitchell died June 9, 2011, following a long battle with cancer. A first round pick by Cleveland in 1978, the fan favorite spent 10 seasons in the NBA, the final six and a half with San Antonio. Mitchell was 55.   (NBA Photos/NBAE via Getty Images)

Former Detroit Tigers outfielder Jim Northrup died June 8, 2011, after having a seizure. His two-run triple in Game Seven of the 1968 World Series helped lead the Tigers to a 4-1 win. Northrup spent 12 seasons playing ball with Detroit, the Montreal Expos and Baltimore Orioles before moving into the broadcast booth. He was 71.   (Louis Requena/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

World Series hero Jose Pagan died June 7, 2011. A two-run double in Game Seven of the 1971 series led his Pittsburgh Pirates to an eventual win over the Baltimore Orioles. Pagan spent 15 seasons in the big leagues with Pittsburgh and the Philadelphia Phillies. He was 76.  (Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

Boxer Genero Hernandez (R) died June 7, 2011, from a rare form of cancer. The two-time world super featherweight champion retired in 1999 with a 38-2-1 record, 17 of those wins coming by knockout. Hernandez was 45.  (Al Bello/ALLSPORT)

Pro football hall of famer Andy Robustelli died May 31, 2011. Small for defensive end position at six feet one inch, Robustelli was picked for the Pro Bowl seven times and a First-team All-Pro seven times over 13 seasons with the Los Angeles Rams and the New York Giants. Robustelli was 85.  (Michael P. Malarkey/Getty Images)

Margo Dydek, a 7-foot-2-inch Polish-born former NBA player, died May 27, eight days after suffering a heart attack. Dydek is the tallest woman ever to play in the WNBA, and is the league’s all-time blocks leader with 877 in 323 games. She was 37.  (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)

Hall of Fame pitcher Paul Splittorff died May 26, 2011. He was being treated for oral cancer and melanoma. Splittorff was an announcer with the Kansas City Royals but was on limited duty for the last two seasons with speech issues. He was 64.   (Rogers Photo Archive/Getty Images)

Former professional wrestler ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage died after losing control of his car due to a heart attack on May 20. He was 58.   (Tim Boyles/Getty Images)

Oklahoma senior linebacker Austin Box has died after being found unconscious in his home. The cause of his death so far is unknown. Box was 22.   (Jackson Laizure/Getty Images)

Minnesota Twins great Harmon Killebrew died May 17 following a long battle with cancer. The hall of famer played for three teams over 22 seasons and is regarded by many as one of the best to ever play the game. Killebrew was 74.  (Hannah Foslien /Getty Images)

Former Dallas Cowboys running back Ron Springs died May 12, of a heart attack. Battling diabetes and other health issues much of his life, Springs had been in a coma since 2007. Drafted by the Cowboys in 1979 out of Ohio State, he spent his last two seasons in Tampa Bay. Springs was 54.   (Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

Former NBA player Robert “Tractor” Traylor was found dead of an apparent heart attack in his apartment in Puerto Rico, May 11. Known for his size, Traylor was the number six pick in the 1998 draft. His size contributed to health problems leading to heart surgery in 2005. Traylor was 36.   (David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)

British musician Jet Harris, who enjoyed a string of hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s with Cliff Richard’s band The Shadows, has died March 18 after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 71.  (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Director Gary Winick (pictured here with actress Amanda Seyfried) died Feb. 27 after a battle with brain cancer. He was 49.  (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Leading home run hitter and Hall of Fame baseball player Duke Snider died Feb. 27 at the age of 84. Snider played for the Brooklyn Dodger teams in the 1940s and ‘50s.   (Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)

Former NFL defensive back Dave Duerson died Feb. 17 from a self-inflicted gun shot. The four-time Pro Bowl safety won Super Bowls with the 1985-1986 Chicago Bears and the 1990-1991 New York Giants. Duerson was 50. Duerson is shown in the photo in 2005. (Charles Cherney/Chicago Tribune)  (Charles Cherney/Chicago Tribune))

Hall of Fame football star Ollie Matson died Feb. 19 of respiratory failure in Los Angeles. He spent 14 years in the NFL playing on both sides of the ball. Despite spending most of his seasons on terrible teams, Matson was NFL Rookie of the Year in 1952, made All-NFL four times and was a six-time Pro Bowl selection. Matson was 80.   (Vic Stein /Getty Images)

Blind jazz piano legend Sir George Shearing, best known for the 1952 classic “Lullaby of Birdland,” died in New York on Feb. 14 of congestive heart failure. He was 91.  (Metronome/Getty Images)

Charlie Callas, a rubber-faced stand-up comedian and Mel Brooks regular who worked on television, in films and on stage for five decades, died Jan. 27 in a Las Vegas hospice. He was 86.  (CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)

Bernd Eichinger, who produced films such as “Downfall, the “Resident Evil” series and “The Neverending Story,” died of a heart attack on Jan. 24. He was 61.  (AXEL SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images)

Genius grant recipient Ellen Stewart, founder and director of the pioneering off-off-Broadway group La MaMa Experimental Theater Club, died on Jan. 13 after an extended illness. She was 91.  (TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty Images)

Singer Margaret Whiting died Jan. 10. Whiting’s career took off with a string of hits in the 1940s, television in the 1950s and a long run as a nightclub singer still touring as late as the 1990s. The Big Band beauty was a staple of U.S.O. tours during World War II and the Korean War. Whiting was 86.  (Fernando Leon/Getty Images)

Federal Judge John Roll died Jan. 8. He was gunned down during the Tucson shooting rampage that also claimed the lives of five others. Roll was 63.  (John Moore/Getty Images)

Former MLB All-Star Ryne Duren died Jan. 6. Known for his intimidating presence and 100 MPH fastball, Duren made it to the World Series twice with the Yankees in 1958 and 1960.  (Diamond Images/Getty Images)