Notable sports deaths in 2021
Floyd Little
Floyd Little, the Hall of Fame running back who starred at Syracuse and for the Denver Broncos, died on Jan. 1. He was 78. No cause was given.
Paul Westphal
Paul Westphal, a Hall of Fame player who won a championship with the Boston Celtics in 1974 and later coached in the league and in college, died on Jan. 2 at age 70 in Scottsdale, Arizona, after being diagnosed with brain cancer in August 2020.
John Muckler
John Muckler, who coached four NHL teams, including the Rangers for four seasons, and won five Stanley Cup championships with the Oilers, was confirmed dead by the Oilers on Jan. 4. He was 86
Tommy Lasorda
Tommy Lasorda, one of baseball’s most colorful characters of the late 20th century, died on Jan. 7 at age 93, silencing a voice that could be both comical and profane but never boring.
Don Sutton
Don Sutton, the Hall of Fame pitcher who was a stalwart of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rotation spanning an era from Sandy Koufax to Fernando Valenzuela, died on Jan. 18 at the age of 75.
Ted Thompson
Ted Thompson, whose 13-year run as Green Bay Packers general manager included their 2010 Super Bowl championship season, died on Jan. 20. He was 68.
Hank Aaron
Hank Aaron withstood the deliberate obscurity in baseball’s Negro Leagues and became an American icon by breaking a record that was arguably the most hallowed mark in sports at the time he broke it. He died on Jan. 22 at age 86.
Harthorne Wingo
Harthorne Wingo, the popular 6-9 forward for the Knicks' championship team in 1973, died on Jan 23, the team announced. He was 73.
George Armstrong
George Armstrong, who captained the Toronto Maple Leafs to four Stanley Cups in the 1960s, died from heart complications on Jan. 24. He was 90.
John Chaney
John Chaney, one of the nation's leading basketball coaches and a commanding figure during a Hall of Fame career at Temple, died on Jan. 29 at age 89.
Leon Spinks Jr.
Leon Spinks Jr., a former world heavyweight boxing champion who won gold at the 1976 Montreal Olympics and beat Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight title in 1978, died Feb. 5 at age 67 after battling prostate and other cancers.
Pedro Gomez
Pedro Gomez, a longtime baseball correspondent for ESPN died unexpectedly at his home on Feb. 7. He was 58.
Tom Konchalski
Tom Konchalski, an extraordinary evaluator of basketball talent and the editor and publisher of High School Basketball Illustrated, a must-read for coaches at every level of college basketball, died on Feb. 8 at age 74 after battling cancer.
Marty Schottenheimer
Marty Schottenheimer, who won 200 regular-season games with four NFL teams thanks to his "Martyball" brand of smash-mouth football but regularly fell short in the playoffs, died on Feb. 8. He was 77.
Vincent Jackson
Vincent Jackson, the former Pro Bowl wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was found dead on Feb. 15 at a Florida hotel room, days after authorities spoke with him as part of a welfare check, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. He was 38.
Irv Cross
Irv Cross, the former NFL defensive back who became the first Black man to work full-time as a sports analyst on national television, died on Feb. 28 at the age of 81.
Mark Pavelich
Mark Pavelich, a member of the "Miracle on Ice" Olympic hockey team, died at the Eagle's Healing Nest in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, on March 5 at the age of 63. The cause and manner of death were still pending at the time of his death. Pavelich was undergoing treatment at the home as part of a civil commitment for assaulting his neighbor in August 2019.
'Marvelous' Marvin Hagler
Marvin Hagler, the middleweight boxing great whose title reign and career ended with a split-decision loss to "Sugar" Ray Leonard in 1987, died unexpectedly on March 13. He was 66.
Elgin Baylor
Elgin Baylor, the Lakers' 11-time NBA All-Star who soared through the 1960s with a high-scoring style of basketball that became the model for the modern player, died on March 22 at age 86.
Bobby Brown
Dr. Bobby Brown was a five-time champion with the Yankees, had the highest World Series batting average of anyone with at least 35 plate appearances, fought in two wars and was American League president. He died at age 96 on March 25 in Texas.
Bobby Unser
Bobby Unser, a beloved three-time Indianapolis 500 winner and part of the only pair of brothers to win "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" died on May 2. He was 87.
Lee Evans
Lee Evans, the record-setting sprinter who wore a black beret in a sign of protest at the 1968 Olympics, died on May 19 at age 74.
Mark Eaton
Mark Eaton, the 7-foot-4 shot-blocking king who twice was the NBA's defensive player of the year during a career spent entirely with the Utah Jazz, died on May 28. He was 64.
Mike Marshall
Mike Marshall, who became the first reliever to win the Cy Young Award when he set a major league record by pitching 106 games in a season for the Los Angeles Dodgers, died on May 31. He was 78.
Jim Fassel
Jim Fassel, who coached the Giants to their third Super Bowl appearance in the 2000 season and won NFL Coach of the Year honors in his first season in 1997, died on June 7 at age 71.
Matiss Kivlenieks
Matiss Kivlenieks, a goaltender for the Columbus Blue Jackets, died on July 4 at age 24 following a chest trauma from an errant fireworks mortar blast.
Dick Tidrow
Dick Tidrow, a former major league pitcher and longtime member of the San Francisco Giants' front office, died on July 14 at age 74. He pitched for the Mets and Yankees, among other teams.
Joe Walton
Joe Walton, who died on Aug. 15 at 85, was the only coach in the Jets’ first five decades in the NFL to manage consecutive seasons with double-digit victory totals, going 11-5 in 1985 and 10-6 in ’86.
Bill Freehan
Bill Freehan, an 11-time All-Star catcher with the Detroit Tigers and key player on the 1968 World Series championship team, died on Aug. 19 at age 79. The cause of death was not disclosed, but family members have publicly said that Freehan had Alzheimer's disease.
Floyd Reese
Floyd Reese, the general manager who assembled the roster for the Tennessee Titans' lone Super Bowl appearance, died Aug. 21 of cancer at age 73.
Rod Gilbert
Rangers great Rod Gilbert, who retired in 1978 and decades later still was the team’s career leader in goals (406) and points (1,021), forever the right wing on the "G-A-G Line" – for goal-a-game – with Vic Hadfield and Jean Ratelle, died at age 80, the Rangers announced on Aug. 22.
Jimmy Hayes
Jimmy Hayes, who won a national hockey championship at Boston College and played seven seasons in the NHL died Aug. 23 at age 31. A law enforcement official said medics were called to the Hayes home in the Boston suburbs, where he was pronounced dead.
Roger Brown
Roger Brown, a College Football Hall of Famer and six-time Pro Bowl selection with the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams, has died. He was 84.
Eddie Partridge
Eddie Partridge, legendary co-owner of Riverhead Raceway, died on Sept. 10 from a heart attack. He was 68.
Ray Fosse
Ray Fosse, the strong-armed catcher whose career was upended when he was bowled over by Pete Rose at the 1970 All-Star Game died on Oct. 13. He was 74. Carol Fosse, his wife of 51 years, said in a statement online that Fosse died after a 16-year bout with cancer.
Jerry Remy
Jerry Remy, a Boston Red Sox second baseman who went on to become a local icon as a television broadcaster, died on Oct. 30 after a long and public struggle with lung cancer. He was 68.
Pedro Feliciano
Pedro Feliciano, a lefthanded bullpen stalwart for the 2000s Mets, died unexpectedly in his sleep on Nov. 7 or Nov. 8 at age 45.
Sam Huff
Sam Huff, the fierce linebacker who anchored the Giants' defense and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, died on Nov. 13 at age 87.
Lee Elder
Lee Elder, who broke down racial barriers as the first Black golfer to play in the Masters and paved the way for Tiger Woods and others to follow, died on Nov. 28. He was 87.
Demaryius Thomas
Demaryius Thomas, who earned five straight Pro Bowl honors and a Super Bowl ring during a prolific receiving career spent mostly with the Denver Broncos, died on Dec. 9 at age 33.
John Madden
John Madden, the Hall of Fame football coach who became an influential TV analyst and pitchman, died unexpectedly Dec. 28 at age 85, the NFL said.