2020 Notable sports deaths

Sports

2020 Notable sports deaths

Some of the notable sports figures who died in 2020.

DEC. 26 - Phil Niekro was a baseball Hall of Famer who spent 21 of his 24 years in the majors with the Braves, pitching in a franchise record 740 games for Milwaukee and Atlanta. He made a career perfecting the knuckleball. He won 121 games after turning 40, and retired with 318 victories over the course of 5,404 innings. He was 81.

DEC. 21 - Kevin Greene was a linebacker who spent 15 years in the NFL with four teams. A fierce pass rusher, Greene finished his Hall of Fame career with 160 sacks, which ranks third in league history behind only Bruce Smith (200) and Reggie White (198). He was a two-time All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowl selection with Carolina, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and L.A. Rams between 1985 and 1999. He was 58.

DEC. 9 - Ray Perkins, a star receiver at Alabama in 1966, was the head coach with the New York Giants and started the transition that led to two Super Bowl titles before leaving for his alma mater to replace Hall of Famer Bear Bryant as Alabama’s football coach following the 1982 season. Perkins won three bowl games with the Crimson Tide and was 32-15-1, but he also went 5-6 in 1984. Perkins also was the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1987-90. He later spent one season leading the Arkansas State program before working as an assistant for several NFL teams. He was 79.

NOV. 25 - Diego Maradona, an Argentine soccer great, infamously scored a "Hand of God" goal that helped lead his country to the 1986 World Cup title. Maradona led club teams to championships in Argentina (Boca Juniors), Italy (Napoli), and Spain (Barcelona), before later struggling with cocaine use and obesity. He was 60.

NOV. 17 - Jake Scott was an All-SEC safety and kick returner for the Georgia Bulldogs. Scott gained even greater fame in the NFL. Scott was named the MVP of the Super Bowl that capped the Miami Dolphins’ unbeaten season of 1972. Scott played nine NFL seasons, earning Pro Bowl honors five times and winning two Super Bowls with the Dolphins. He is in the Dolphins’ Hall of Honor. He was 75.

NOV. 13 - Paul Hornung, the Notre Dame quarterback who won the 1956 Heisman Trophy, was the NFL MVP in 1961 and played on four championship teams (1961, ’62, ‘65 and ’66) with the Green Bay Packers where he rushed, received, played quarterback and kicked over a nine-year career. The "Golden Boy" scored 760 points on 62 touchdowns, 66 field goals and 190 extra points. The Pro Football Hall of Famer was 84.

NOV. 1 - Billy Tubbs was the coach who resurrected Oklahoma's men's basketball in the 1980s with his high-octane system known as Billy Ball. Tubbs had a 333-132 record in 14 seasons at Oklahoma and was four time Big Eight Coach of the Year. His 1987-88 team, featuring future Atlanta Hawk Mookie Blaylock, along with NBAers Harvey Grant and Stacey King, was upset by Kansas in the NCAA title game. Tubbs also coached at Lamar twice and TCU. He was 85.

OCT. 12 - Joe Morgan, a second baseman, was a key member of the Cincinnati Reds teams that won back-to-back World Series in the 1970s. He played until the age of 41, with the Reds, Houston Colt. 45's, Giants, Phillies and A's. Beyond his accomplishments on the field as a two-time NL MVP, a 10-time All-Star and a five-time Gold Glove winner, Morgan was renown for a 25-year broadcast career. The Hall of Famer was 77.

OCT. 8 - Eddie "Whitey" Ford won 236 games - the most of any N.Y. Yankee - during a career that included 11 pennants and six World Series championships. His 2.75 career ERA amassed over 3,170 innings was impressive, but more so may be his World Series records: most victories (10), most strikeouts (94) and 33-2/3 straight scoreless inning. The Hall of Famer was 91.

OCT. 2 - Bob Gibson won 20 games five times and struck out 3,117 batters during a Hall of Fame career that stretched from 1959 to 1975 - all with the St. Louis Cardinals. In that span he posted 56 career shutouts, won two Cy Young Awards, was named NL MVP and pitched in three World Series, winning two. Gibson, who had been battling pancreatic cancer for more than a year, was 84.

SEPT. 23 - Gale Sayers was the youngest player - at age 34 - to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, after an illustrious career that spanned just seven NFL seasons. A five-time All-Pro, Sayers rushed for 4,956 yards and 39 touchdowns helping the Bears to an NFL championship in 1963. His career was cut short by numerous injuries. His friendship with teammate Brian Piccolo was document in the move "Brian's Song." Sayers, who battled dementia, was 77.

SEPT. 2 - Tom Seaver was the leader of the "Miracle Mets" 1969 championship team and a pitcher who nearly started his career with the Braves. Seaver won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1967. In 1969, he went 25-7 with a 2.21 ERA, winning his first of three Cy Young Awards, while leading New York to its first World Series championship. He pitched 20 seasons, winning 311 games and striking out 3,640 batters - sixth most in baseball history. The Hall of Famer was 75.

AUG. 31 - John Thompson was the first Black coach to lead a team to the NCAA basketball championship. He turned Georgetown from a moribund program in the 1970s into a powerhouse a decade later. "Big John," or "Pops" to many, retired in 1999 with 596 wins, 20 NCAA appearances and three Final Fours. He was Bill Russell's backup on the Boston Celtics' championship teams of 1965 and '66. Thompson, a Hall of Famer, was 78.

AUG. 29 - Cliff Robinson - known for wearing headbands before they became a trend - played 18 NBA seasons with the Trail Blazers, Jazz, Suns, Pistons Warriors and Nets. His 761 consecutive regular season games with Portland remain a franchise record. He the NBA's Sixth Man for the 1992 season and an All-Star in 1994. He was 53.

AUG. 27 - Lute Olson was a Hall of Fame college basketball coach who led Arizona to 23 consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament, winning the championship in 1997. He accumulated 781 career wins at Arizona and Iowa. More than 30 of his players went on to the NBA. A few, including Georgia Tech's Josh Pastner, followed his path into coaching. He was 85.

AUG. 13 - Quentin McCord, a 2001 draft pick by the Atlanta Falcons played at Kentucky and was a native of LaGrange. His 799 receiving yards for the Wildcats in 2000 are among the school's top 10 single-season best. He spent three seasons in Atlanta, recording 23 catches for 427 yards and 1 touchdown. McCord was 42.

JULY 28 - John McNamara led the Boston Red Sox within an out of the 1986 World Series Championship against the Mets. He nurtured the talents of Reggie Jackson as a manager of the Birmingham A's in Alabama before embarking on a major league managerial career that spanned three decades with the A's, Padres Reds, Angels, Red Sox and Indians. He was 88.

JULY 11 - Frank Bolling was a major-league second baseman for 12 seasons, including six with the Braves. In 1966, Bolling was in the starting lineup for the first major league game played in Atlanta. He hit .254 with 106 career home runs - one of which was the last grand slam allowed by Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax. Bolling was 88.

JUNE 10 - Claudell Washington was an outfielder who played in 17 seasons for seven teams, including the Atlanta Braves. Washington signed with the Braves after the 1980 season and was a key contributor to the 1982 National League West champions. He played in 651 games for Atlanta, his most with any team, before being traded to the Yankees in June 1986 for Ken Griffey Sr. He was 65.

JUNE 6 - John Zook was a 6-foot-4 defensive end who teamed up with Hall of Famer Claude Humphrey on the Atlanta Falcons' line to create a lethal pass-rush combination from 1969 to 1975. Zook was the first Falcon in history to record a safety in 1971. He was 72.

JUNE 3 - Johnny Majors was a Hall of Fame coach who over 29 years compiled a 185-137-10 record at Iowa State, Pitt and Tennessee. A former Vols tailback, he was a runner-up for the Heisman Trophy, losing to Notre Dame's Paul Hornung. He won a national title with Pittsburgh in 1976 before coaching the Volunteers over 16 seasons, winning three SEC titles - the last in 1990. He was 85.

JUNE 2 - Wes Unseld was a basketball Hall of Fame center who led Washington to its only NBA title. A five-time All-Star, Unseld is one of only two players to win NBA Rookie of the Year and MVP honors in the same season. Unseld averaged 10.8 points and 14 rebounds for his 12-year career with Washington. He remained with the franchise as a coach (1987-94) and general manager (1996-2003). He was 74.

JUNE 1 - Pat Dye was a two-time All-American player at Georgia who took over a downtrodden Auburn football program in 1981 and turned it into a Southeastern Conference power. In 12 years, he posted a 99-39-4 record, leading the Tigers to four conference titles. He was 80.

MAY 25 - Braves catcher Biff Pocoroba (pictured: mobbed by the Phillie Phanatic before a game in 1983) was drafted in the 17th round of the 1971 draft. He went on to hit .257/.339/.367 with 21 homers and 172 RBIs over a 10-year career with the club from 1975-84. He earned All-Star honors in 1978. Pocoroba was 66.

MAY 22 - Jerry Sloan was a Hall of Fame coach who was a fixture for decades in Utah and took the Jazz to the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998. Sloan spent 23 seasons coaching the Jazz. The team — with John Stockton and Karl Malone leading the way in many of those seasons — finished below .500 in only one of those years. Sloan won 1,221 games in his career. Only Lenny Wilkens, Don Nelson and Gregg Popovich have more victories. He was 78.

MAY 22 - Pepper Rodgers was the quarterback of Georgia Tech’s 1952 national championship team, the head coach for one of the school’s most memorable upsets and a man renowned for his free spirit. A coach easily underestimated for his flamboyance and easygoing manner, Rodgers built winning teams at Kansas, UCLA and Tech. The Atlanta native remains, in fact, the last Kansas coach to win a conference championship, in 1968. He was 88.

MAY 14 - Bob Watson played on the Braves’ 1982 National League West division-winning team and later became the first black general manager to win a World Series with the New York Yankees in 1996. Watson, who was nicknamed “The Bull,” made the All-Star team in 1973 and ’75, hit over .300 four times and drove in at least 100 runs twice while hitting in the middle of the Astros’ lineup. He was 74.

May 4 - Don Shula was the NFL’s winningest coach and the architect of the only perfect season in league history. Shula coached the Miami Dolphins to five Super Bowls from 1970 to 1985, including an undefeated season in 1972. Shula has won the most games in NFL history (347); and coached the most games (526) in consecutive seasons (33). He coached in six Super Bowls. He was 90.

APRIL 28 - Rob Kellogg had been Mountain View's football coach since 2018 and led the Bears to the playoffs both years out of Region 7-AAAAAAA. Kellogg was a head coach for 15 seasons in the Georgia Independent School Association, where he compiled a 77-73 record and won region titles at Thomas Jefferson Academy, Flint River Academy and Fullington Academy in central Georgia. He was an assistant at North Hall and Gilmer in the GHSA before joining Mountain View’s staff in 2015. He was 58.

APRIL 12 - Tarvaris Jackson, an NFL quarterback who won a Super Bowl as a member of the Seattle Seahawks, died from injuries sustained in a car crash in his native Alabama. Jackson was a second-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings in 2006. He made 14 starts for Seattle in 2011, throwing for 3,091 yards and 14 TDs. He left the NFL in 2015, becoming a quarterbacks coach at his alma mater Alabama State and later Tennessee State. He was 36.

APRIL 4 - Tom Dempsey was an NFL kicker born without toes on his kicking foot who made a record 63-yard field goal using a flat-front shoe. Dempsey’s winning field goal for the New Orleans Saints against Detroit on Nov. 8, 1970, stood as an NFL record for 43 years. He spent 11 seasons in the NFL. Dempsey, who was diagnosed with dementia, died while struggling with complications from the new coronavirus. He was 73.

MARCH 30 - Jimmy Wynn was nicknamed “The Toy Cannon” during a 15-year career that included a stop in Atlanta. The Braves acquired Wynn from the Dodgers in a trade for Dusty Baker and Ed Goodson on Nov. 17, 1975. Wynn hit 17 homers, had 66 RBIs and hit .207 for the 1976 Braves before being sold to the Yankees in the offseason. He was 78.

MARCH 26 - Fred “Curly” Neal was the dribbling wizard who entertained millions with the Harlem Globetrotters from 1963 to 1985. He appeared in more than 6,000 games in 97 countries for the exhibition team known for its combination of comedy and athleticism. He became one of five Globetrotters to have his jersey retired when his No. 22 was lifted to the rafters during a special ceremony at Madison Square Garden in 2008. He was 77.

MARCH 30 - Bill Bartholomay was a Chicago insurance brokerage executive who brought the Braves and major-league sports to Atlanta in 1966. Bartholomay led a group that purchased the Milwaukee Braves for $6.2 million in 1962, decided in 1964 to relocate the franchise to Atlanta and fought Wisconsin court battles to complete the move in 1966. He sold the franchise to Ted Turner for $11 million in 1976. He was 91.

MARCH 21 - Woody Widenhofer, one of the architects behind the Pittsburgh Steelers' "Steel Curtain" defense that won four Super Bowls in the 1970s, died after multiple strokes. Widenhofer was the linebackers coach (1973-78) and defensive coordinator (1979-83) for the Steelers. Widenhofer went 12-31-1 at Missouri from 1985-88 and 15-40 at Vanderbilt from 1997-2001. He finished his career as defensive coordinator at Southeastern Louisiana (2003-04) and New Mexico State (2005-07). He was 77.

FEB. 16 - Tony Fernandez, a stylish shortstop who made five All-Star teams during his 17 seasons in the major leagues and helped the Toronto Blue Jays win the 1993 World Series, died after complications from a kidney disease. He had been in a medically induced coma and had waited years for a new kidneys. Fernandez won four straight Gold Gloves with the Blue Jays in the 1980s and holds club records for career hits and games played. A clutch hitter in five trips to the postseason, he had four separate stints with Toronto and played for six other teams. He was 57.

JAN. 30 - John Andretti became the first driver to compete in the Indianapolis 500 before flying to Charlotte, N.C., for NASCAR's 600-mile night race in 1994. He made 476 career starts on the Cup and IndyCar circuits, winning three times: The 1991 IndyCar season-opener at Australia, NASCAR’s second race at Daytona an 1997 and at Martinsville in 1999. Andretti died at the age of 56 after a three-year battle with colon cancer.

JAN. 28 - Chris Doleman, a Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end who spent two seasons with the Falcons, died "after a prolonged and courageous battle against cancer." Doleman recorded 150-1/2 sacks in 232 games between 1985 and 1999. He was a first-team All-Pro selection on two occasions and made eight Pro Bowls, playing for the Vikings, Falcons and 49ers. He was 58.

JAN. 26 - Kobe Bryant, who was drafted out of high school to a 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers that established him as one of basketball’s all-time greats was among nine people killed in a helicopter crash. His 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, a budding basketball star herself also was killed in the crash. Bryant won five NBA championships and scored 81 points in a single game. He was 41.

JAN. 23 - High school football coach Buddy Nobles led Irwin County to its first state title since 1975 in 2019. Nobles - a high school coach for three decades - became Irwin County’s head coach in 2014 and established the program as one of the best in Class A. His teams won five region titles and reached five state finals in Nobles’ six seasons. He died after a months-long battle with stomach cancer. He was 53.

JAN. 2 - Sam Wyche, an Atlanta native, was the last coach to lead the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl. As quarterbacks coach in San Francisco he helped in the development of Joe Montana and won a Super Bowl there as an assistant in 1982. He went on to lose to Montana and the 49ers for the NFL title in 1989. He left the NFL in 2005 and retired to Pickens, S.C., where he volunteered coaching football at the local high school. Wyche was 74.

JAN. 1 - Don Larsen, the journeyman pitcher who reached the heights of baseball glory when he threw a perfect game in 1956 with the New York Yankees for the only no-hitter in World Series history, died from esophageal cancer. Larsen pitched in three other World Series, including the 1957 and '58 series against the Milwaukee Braves. He was 90.

JAN. 1 - David Stern, who spent 30 years as the NBA’s longest-serving commissioner and one of the best in sports history, died after suffering a brain hemorrhage. During a three-decade run, Stern grew the NBA to a more than $5 billion a year industry increasing its popularity with mainstream America. He would turn Magic, Michael, Kobe, LeBron, just to name a few, into household names - globally. He was 77.

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DEC. 26 - Phil Niekro was a baseball Hall of Famer who spent 21 of his 24 years in the majors with the Braves, pitching in a franchise record 740 games for Milwaukee and Atlanta. He made a career perfecting the knuckleball. He won 121 games after turning 40, and retired with 318 victories over the course of 5,404 innings. He was 81.

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