Prominent sports deaths
Kirby Puckett: Baseball Hall of Famer, 45, stroke.
Floyd Patterson: Heavyweight boxing champion, 71, Alzheimer’s disease and prostate cancer.
Curt Gowdy: Preeminent sportscaster, 86, leukemia.
Steve Howe: Former Dodgers reliever, 48, car accident.
Byron Nelson: Golfing legend, 94, natural causes.
Red Auerbach: Longtime Boston Celtics coach, general manager, 89, heart failure.
Bo Schembechler: Former Michigan football coach, 77, heart attack.
Lamar Hunt: American Football League founder, 74, prostate cancer.
Maggie Dixon: Army women’s basketball coach, 28, heart arrhythmia.
Rod Dedeaux: Legendary USC baseball coach, 91, complications from a stroke.
Ryan Francis: USC freshman point guard, 19, gunshot wound.
Bob Mathias: Two-time Olympic champion in the decathlon, 75, cancer.
Ted Schroeder: 1949 Wimbledon tennis champion, 84, cancer.
Mike Quarry: Light-heavyweight boxer, 55, boxing-induced dementia.
Randy Walker: Northwestern football coach, 52, heart attack.
Susan Butcher: Four-time Iditarod champion, 51, leukemia.
Patty Berg: One of the founders of the LPGA, 88, Alzheimer’s disease.
Buck O’Neil: Former Negro leagues player, 94, heart failure and bone marrow cancer.
Marlin McKeever: Two-time All-American at USC and 13-year NFL player, 66, head injuries from a fall.
Marcus Cassel: Former UCLA cornerback, 23, car accident.
Willie Pep: Hall of Fame boxer, 84, Alzheimer’s disease.
Larry Sherry: World Series MVP for Dodgers in 1959, 71, cancer.
Cory Lidle: Major league pitcher, 34, airplane crash.
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