April 1 — Jack Pardee, 76, the only person to coach a team in college football, the National Football League, the United States Football League, the World Football League, and the Canadian Football League. Pardee was one of Bear Bryant’s “Junction Boys” at Texas A&M and went on to become an All-Pro linebacker with the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins 1957-73.
April 1 — Ralph Sanchez, 64, founder of Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Cuban-born businessman brought auto racing to the streets of Miami in the 1980s and later built a major speedway in a city devastated by Hurricane Andrew. The track opened in November 1995 with a successful NASCAR race. It hosts more than 280 events a year and NASCAR ends its season there in November with a weekend of races of all three circuits.
April 1 — Nicolae Martinescu, 73, former Olympic wrestling champion for Romania. Martinescu won gold in the Greco-Roman heavyweight class in 1972 Olympics and light-heavyweight bronze at the 1968 Mexico City Games.
April 2 — Greg Willard, 54, NBA veteran referee. Willard officiated 1,494 regular season games, 136 playoff games, two Finals games and the 2006 NBA All-Star Game.
April 2 — Chuck Fairbanks, 79, former college and NFL coach. Fairbanks amassed a 52-15-1 record in six years with Oklahoma and coached Heisman Trophy winner Steve Owens. He coached the New England Patriots for six seasons and won 46 games, a franchise record at the time. Colorado hired Fairbanks away from the Patriots, but he was just 7-26 in three seasons. Fairbanks left Colorado to become coach and general manager of the New Jersey Generals of the USFL. He was fired after one season.
April 2 — Stan Isaacs, 83, former Newsday columnist. Isaacs worked at Newsday from 1954 to 1992. He covered Casey Stengel, Bill Veeck, Bill Russell and Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali); the early days of the Mets; and Roger Maris’s record-breaking season with the Yankees in 1961. When he began his televised sports column in 1978, only the Boston Globe was the other major newspaper to have one.
April 4 — Richard Cox “Dick” Heatly, 83, halfback and punter at Oklahoma for Hall of Fame coach Bud Wilkinson from 1949-1951.
April 7 — Marty Blake, 86, the “Godfather of NBA Scouting.” Blake worked in the NBA for more than 50 years, first as general manager of the Milwaukee (later St. Louis and Atlanta) Hawks and later for more than 35 years as the NBA’s Director of Scouting.
April 7 — Chelone Miller, 29, snowboarder and the younger brother of Olympic gold medalist Bode Miller. Miller was hoping to make the U.S. squad in snowboardcross for the 2014 Sochi Games. Nicknamed Chilly, Miller recently finished fourth at the 2013 U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix in Canyons, Utah.
April 7 — Carl “The Truth” Williams, 53, former heavyweight boxer, who took Larry Holmes 15 rounds before losing a controversial decision for the IBF title in 1985. Williams beat Bert Cooper in 1987 for the USBA heavyweight title. He defended the crown three times before getting knocked out by Mike Tyson just 93 seconds into their July 1989 fight in Atlantic City. Williams retired in 1997, finishing with a career record of 30-10, winning 21 by knockout.
April 10 — Dave O’Hara, 86, former AP Boston sports editor. O’Hara covered Boston sports greats from Ted Williams to Larry Bird during a 50-year career with The Associated Press.
April 11 — Grady Hatton, 90, former major league third baseman who managed the Houston Astros in the 1960s. Hatton hit .254 with 91 home runs and 533 RBIs in 1,312 major league games in 12 seasons from 1946 to 1960 with six major-league teams. He had a 164-221 record as Houston’s manager from 1966-68.
April 11 — Frank Kaminski, 74, four-year starter (1960-64) for the Randolph-Macon men’s basketball team. Kaminski helped R-MC to four Virginia “Little 8” championships and three Mason-Dixon Conference Southern Division titles. He completed his career as the all-time leading rebounder in school history with 1,494 and ranks second on the all-time scoring list with 1,997 points.
April 11 — Errol Mann, 71, former NFL kicker. Mann spent a dozen years in the NFL, most with the Detroit Lions (1969-76). He kicked for the Oakland Raiders Super Bowl XI championship team. The next year, 1977, he led the NFL in scoring.
April 12 — Marv Harshman, 95, former Washington and Washington State men’s basketball coach. Harshman, who was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985, spent 40 years coaching in the state of Washington, first at his alma mater Pacific Lutheran. He then moved across the state to Washington State, where he coached the Cougars for 13 seasons. His final coaching job came at Washington, where four times he won 20 or more games and went to the NCAA tournament three times before retiring in 1985. He retired with more than 600 victories at the college level.
April 12 — Frosty Westering, 85, former Pacific Lutheran football coach. Westering retired from coaching with 305 career victories and led Pacific Lutheran to four national championships. In 32 seasons at the NAIA and NCAA Division III school, Westering won four titles and finished as a national runner-up four other times. He went 261-70-5 at the private school.
April 13 — Jim Miller, 81, former Kilgore College football coach. Miller, who had the longest tenure as football coach in the college’s history, joined the staff an assistant coach in 1967. He was named head coach in 1976 and retired in 1992 with a record of 97-66-2.
April 14 — Julius Menendez, 90, head boxing coach for the United States in the 1960 Olympics held in Rome. Menendez coached Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, to the gold medal in the light heavyweight division. Eddie Crook Jr. and Wilbert McClure also won gold medals for the U.S. that year. Menendez also coached the U.S. men’s soccer team in the 1976 Olympics. Menendez also won three NCAA boxing championships as coach at San Jose State and won 295 games in 36 seasons as the Spartans’ soccer coach.
April 16 — Pat Summerall, 82, NFL player-turned-broadcaster whose deep, resonate voice called games for more than 40 years. Summerall was part of network television broadcasts for 16 Super Bowls. His last championship game was for Fox on Feb. 3, 2002, also his last game with longtime partner John Madden. The popular duo worked together for 21 years, moving to Fox in 1994 after years as the lead team for CBS. Summerall played 10 NFL seasons (1952-61) with the Chicago Cardinals and New York Giants. He started doing NFL games for CBS in 1964. He also covered the PGA Tour and tennis.
April 16 — Bob Gregory, 63, a three-year basketball starter for Manhattan College.
April 16 — Pentti Lund, 87, first Finnish-born player to score a goal in the NHL and the 1948-49 rookie of the year with the New York Rangers. The next season, Lund help the Rangers upset Montreal and advance to the Stanley Cup final, where they lost Game 7 in double overtime to Detroit. Lund sustained a serious eye injury from a high stick in the 1950-51 season. He spent the following two seasons with Boston before retiring.
April 16 — Bob Yates Jr., 74, former Syracuse offensive lineman who played for the Patriots in their first six seasons. Yates helped lead Syracuse to the 1959 national championship and played 68 games at tackle, guard and center for the Patriots from 1960-1965.
April 18 — Annie Tribble, 80, former Clemson women’s basketball coach. Tribble took over the Lady Tigers in 1976, a year after the university created a women’s basketball team. She went 200-135 in 11 years with seven 20-win seasons. Tribble’s teams also made the postseason seven times including the inaugural NCAA Tournament in 1982.
April 19 — Jack Shanafelt, 81, a 1953 All-American tackle at Pennsylvania.
April 19 — T.J. “Tommy” Kelly, 93, Hall of Fame thoroughbred trainer. Kelly died after a 54-year career in which he won 65 stakes races. Among Kelly’s standouts was Plugged Nickle, the 1980 champion sprinter. Plugged Nickle was a top 3-year-old in 1980, winning the Florida Derby and the Wood Memorial before finishing seventh in the Kentucky Derby.
April 23 — Mike Mansfield, 63, former North Carolina linebacker and a First-Team All-ACC selection in 1972.
April 24 — Storm Cat, 30, thoroughbred stallion who once commanded one of the highest breeding fees in North America. Storm Cat made only eight starts over two years, winning four times, but he became one of the world’s leading sires. He had produced at least 160 stakes winners who combined to top $127 million. His offspring included 1994 Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes winner Tabasco Cat, and 1994 Kentucky Oaks winner Sardula.
April 24 — Larry Felser, 80, lead sports columnist for The Buffalo News for 25 years. Felser worked for the News for 38 years after spending 12 years at the Courier-Express, where he started as a copy boy in 1953. He chronicled the Buffalo Bills from their inception in 1960 to his retirement in 2001 and continued to write a weekly column until 2012.
April 25 — Rick Camp, 60, former Atlanta Braves pitcher. Camp played with the team between 1976 and 1985. He is perhaps best remembered for a home run he hit July 4, 1985, in the 18th inning of a game against the New York Mets. His run tied the game, but the Braves lost 16-13 in the 19th inning.
April 25 — Sam Williams, 82, former Detroit Lions defensive end and “Fearsome Foursome” member. Williams played in Detroit from 1960 to 1965 after a year with the Los Angeles Rams. He spent his final two NFL seasons in Atlanta. Williams played on a Lions defensive line that included Alex Karras, Roger Brown and Darris McCord.
April 26 — Bill Shapland, 57, longtime Georgetown sports information director. Shapland was the enforcer for John Thompson’s “Hoya Paranoia” no-nonsense dealings with the media during much of the Hall of Fame coach’s tenure at Georgetown. Shapland was the SID from 1984 to 2005 and had since been serving as the school’s senior sports communications director.
April 27 – Tim Taylor, 71, former Yale hockey coach. Taylor served as Yale’s head coach from 1976 to 2006. He coached 28 seasons in New Haven, not including two years with Olympic teams. He won more games (337) than any coach in the 117-year history of the program and the Ivy League.
April 27 – Walter Dubzinski Sr., 93, former pro football player. Dubzinski played on Boston College’s 1940 Cotton Bowl team and 1941 Sugar Bowl and national championship squad. He played two years in the NFL for the New York Giants in 1943 and Boston Yanks in 1944.
April 29 – Brad Lesley, 54, former major league baseball player-turned actor. Lesley played for Cincinnati and Milwaukee from 1982 to 1985. In the 1990s, Lesley the ’90s, he appeared in “Mr. Baseball,” ”Space Jam” and played that angry pitcher with the goatee in “Little Big League.”
May 2 – Ivan Turina, 32, goalkeeper for Swedish football club AIK. Turina joined AIK in 2010 from Dinamo Zagreb. He played 89 matches for AIK.
May 3 – Brad Drewett, 54, former tour player who led the ATP as executive chairman and helped increase prize money at Grand Slam tournaments. Drewett was a top-40 singles and top-20 doubles player before he retired in 1990. He was hired in 2006 to lead operations in the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific regions. He led the ATP since January 2012.
May 4 – Alfred “Fred” Julian, 75, former Michigan football player. Julian was a versatile two-way player, who led the Wolverines in rushing in 1959.
May 4 – Ricardo Portillo, 46, soccer referee died after a week in a coma. A 17-year-old player punched Portillo once in the head on April 27 after Portillo called a foul on him and issued him a yellow card in a recreational soccer league game in Salt Lake City.
May 5 – Nehro, 5, runner-up to Animal Kingdom in the 2011 Kentucky Derby.
May 7 – George Sauer, 69, for New York Jets’ wide receiver. Sauer played a key role in the Jets’ 16-7 win over the Baltimore Colts in the 1969 Super Bowl. He caught eight passes from Joe Namath that day in one of the greatest upsets in pro football history. He played for the Jets from 1965-70. Sauer had at least 1,000 yards receiving for three straight years from 1966-68, with his best season coming in 1967 when he led the AFL with 75 catches for 1,189 yards and six touchdowns.
May 9 – Andrew Simpson, 36, British Olympic sailing champion. Simpson died from “blunt trauma with drowning” after the Swedish America’s Cup craft he was sailing capsized and broke apart in San Francisco Bay. Simpson won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and silver in the 2012 London Games.
May 11 – Hal Melton Quinn, 83, former football player at SMU in the early 1950s.
May 11 – Jack Butler, 85, Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame defensive back. Butler made the Steelers as an undrafted rookie free agent out of St. Bonaventure in 1951. He played nine seasons with the Steelers, collecting 52 interceptions. He made the Pro Bowl four times and was named to the All-NFL first team three times.
May 11 – Alex Rovello, 21, University of Oregon tennis player. Rovello, who had a 21-8 match record this past season, died in a diving accident at Tamolitch Falls in the Willamette National Forest.
May 13 – Chuck Muncie, 60, former NFL running back. Muncie was the New Orleans Saints’ first-round pick, third overall, out of California in 1976. He played 4 1/2 seasons in New Orleans before being traded in 1980 to San Diego, where he finished his nine-year NFL career. In 1979, Muncie became the first Saint to rush for 1,000 yards, finishing with 1,198 and 11 touchdowns, and his 1,506 total yards from scrimmage earned him the first of his three Pro Bowl selections.
May 14 – Stephen Martin, 66, first black athlete to play any varsity sport in the Southeastern Conference. Martin was a center fielder who made his debut for Tulane against Spring Hill in the 1966 season opener.
May 15 – Fred White, 76, longtime Kansas City Royals broadcaster. Over his 25 years, White helped call six division championships, an American League pennant in 1980 and the Royals’ only World Series championship in 1985.
May 15 – Victor Torres, 61, hitting coach and instructor in the San Francisco Giants’ player development department the past six years.
May 16 – Dick Trickle, 71, former NASCAR driver. Trickle raced during the 1970s and 1980s, then broke through as a full-time and widely recognized NASCAR driver in 1989. Trickle never managed a victory in the Sprint Cup series, he did have 15 top-five finishes and won two Nationwide Series races before his retirement in 2002.
May 17 – Ken Venturi, 82, former U.S. Open golf champion. Venturi won the 1964 U.S. Open at Congressional despite playing with severe dehydration. He overcame a stuttering problem as a kid to spend 35 years in the broadcast booth with CBS Sports. He also was the Presidents Cup captain in 2000. He died 12 days after he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
May 18 – David McMillan, 31, defensive lineman at Kansas from 2001-04.
May 19 – Kenneth Noe, Jr., 84, former president, chief executive officer and chairman of The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) board.
May 20 – John Rich, 85, former Vanderbilt football player and who later became a trustee. The school named its renovated football practice facilities in his honor, and in 2008 enshrined Rich in the inaugural Vanderbilt Athletics Hall of Fame class.
May 20 – Harry Schuh, 70, former offensive tackle at Memphis. He helped the Tigers to a combined record of 22-5-1 from 1962-64.
May 20 – C. Homer Bast, 98, former Roanoke track & field coach. Bast became coach in 1947 and is credited with reviving and building the school’s track and cross country programs into national powerhouses. He trained numerous athletes during his 25 years as a coach, including U.S. Olympian Dick Emberger, who competed in the decathlon in the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
May 21 – William “Bill” Durham, 77, an All Mid-American Conference football selection from Toledo in the 1955.
May 23 – Jim Zabel, 91, broadcaster who worked Iowa athletic events for 50 years. Zabel was the colorful play-by-play voice for more than 6,100 sporting events, including six Rose Bowls, 26 NCAA basketball tournaments and several Drake Relays.
May 23 – Shak Pershey, 19, one of North Carolina’s top high school quarterbacks who was headed to Chowan University (N.C.).
May 23 – Epy Guerrero, 71, scout the Toronto Blue Jays. Guerrero signed All-Star outfielder Cesar Cedeno for Houston and brought several top players to the Blue Jays, including Tony Fernandez, Alfredo Griffin and Carlos Delgado. He also scouted for the New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers.
May 23 – Flynn Robinson, 72, member of the 1971-1972 Lakers team that won Los Angeles its first NBA title. Dubbed “Mr. Instant Point” by Lakers announcer Chick Hearn, Robinson averaged nearly 10 points in 16 minutes off the bench during his only season with the Lakers. Robinson played seven seasons (1966-73) in the NBA and one season (1973-74) in the ABA. He averaged 14.5 points per game during his NBA/ABA career.
May 23 – Dick Evey, 72, former tackle with the Chicago Bears. Evey played from 1964-69 with the Bears, who selected him out of Tennessee in the first round of the 1964 draft. Evey played with the Los Angeles Rams in 1970 and the Detroit Lions in 1971.
May 25 – Lewis Yocum, 66, renowned orthopedic surgeon. Yocum extended the careers of many big leaguers by repairing injuries that once would’ve ended their playing days. He had been the team orthopedist of the Los Angeles Angels for 36 years. Yocum specialized in sports medicine, shoulder, elbow and knees at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic.
May 26 – Tom Lichtenberg, 72, former Maine, Morehead State and Ohio football coach. He coached Maine from 1967 through 1975 and compiled a 27-53 record, including a Yankee Conference co-championship in 1974.
May 26 – Cullen Finnerty, 30, starting quarterback at Grand Valley State from 2003-06. Finnerty went 51-4 and the led the Lakers to three Division II national championships.
May 28 – Cliff Meely, 65, former Colorado basketball player. He played for Colorado from 1968-71 and averaged 24.3 points per game and 12.1 rebounds, school records that still stand. Meely went on to play six seasons in the NBA with Houston and the Los Angeles Lakers.
May 28 – Jack Mulkey, 95, Fresno State’s first two-time All-American. Mulkey, played wide receiver and defensive back for the Bulldogs for three years (1938-40) and was a first-team All-American selection in 1939 and 1940.
May 30 – Bill Austin, 84, former player and coach for the New York Giants. Austin’s NFL career included stints with eight teams. Austin played in 75 games in his seven seasons, was a Pro Bowl guard in 1954 and a member of the Giants’ 1956 NFL championship team.
May 30 – Larry Jones, 79, former Florida State coach and LSU standout. Jones coached the Seminoles from 1971 to 1973, compiling a record of 15-19. He was a center and linebacker on the 1953 and ’54 LSU teams.
May 31 – Richie Phillips, 72, negotiator for NBA referees and Major League Baseball umpires. Phillips represented NBA referees in the 1970s and ’80s and led MLB umps from 1978 until 1999.
June 2 – Dr. Ed Billings, 84, Houston Baptist’s first director of athletics from 1966-90.
June 2 – Henry Lee Parker, 88, assistant athletic director at SMU who played a role in the football scandal that resulted in the NCAA shutting down its football program for two seasons. Parker lost his job in the wake of a pay-for-players scandal that wiped out SMU’s 1987 and 1988 football seasons.
June 3 – Joe Glynn, 19, Bentley basketball player died after collapsing at a men’s recreational summer league game. The 6-foot-5 forward averaged 3.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game as a freshman last season for the NCAA Division II Falcons.
June 3 – David “Deacon” Jones, 74, Hall of Fame defensive end credited with terming the word sack for how he knocked down quarterbacks. Jones was the leader of the Rams’ Fearsome Foursome unit from 1961-71, and then played for San Diego for two seasons before finishing his career with Washington in 1974. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980 and was voted to the league’s 75th anniversary all-time team.
June 6 – Esther Williams, 91, swimming champion turned movie star. Williams became one of Hollywood’s biggest moneymakers in the 1940s and ’50s, appearing in spectacular swimsuit numbers that capitalized on her wholesome beauty and perfect figure. When she was in her teens, the Los Angeles Athletic Club offered to train her four hours a day, aiming for the 1940 Olympic Games at Helsinki. In 1939, she won the Women’s Outdoor Nationals title in the 100-meter freestyle and set a record in the 100-meter breaststroke. But the outbreak of war in Europe that year canceled the 1940 Olympics, and Esther dropped out of competition to earn a living.
June 6 – Joe Rector, 76, former Oklahoma football player. Rector was a two-year starting end for Bud Wilkinson and key part of the Sooners’ record 47-game winning streak.
June 6 – Saron Hood, 22, former University of Buffalo football player.
June 7 – Charlie Coles, 71, former Miami (Ohio) men’s basketball coach. The two-time Mid-American Conference coach of the year was Miami’s all-time leader in victories with 263. He had a career record of 355-308 over 22 seasons at Miami and Central Michigan. Coles retired in March 2012.
June 7 – Lesley Cantwell, 26, New Zealand racewalker. Cantwell won the 5,000-meter walk at the Oceania Track and Field Championships in Tahiti on June 4. She collapsed while walking to a medal presentation ceremony.
June 8 – John Melton, 86, former Nebraska assistant coach (1962-1989). Melton spent 16 of his seasons as linebackers coach. He also coached tight ends and wingbacks during his tenure.
June 8 – Ted Guthard, 75, former Michigan State, Eastern Michigan and Wake Forest assistant football coach.
June 9 – Joe Tereshinski, Sr., 89, member of Georgia’s national championship football team. He played tight end and defensive end for coach Wally Butts, winning a national title in 1942 and SEC titles in both 1942 and 1946 before playing eight seasons with the NFL’s Washington Redskins.
June 11 – Henry Cecil, 70, one of British horse racing’s most successful trainers with 25 classic winners. Cecil was champion trainer in Britain 10 times. His greatest horse in his 44 years as trainer was Frankel, who retired last year after winning all 14 of his races.
June 12 – Miller Barber, 82, former PGA golfer. Barber made the most combined starts on the PGA and Champions tours. Barber, nicknamed “Mr. X,” played in 1,297 tournaments on the PGA Tour and 50-and-over circuit. He won 11 times in 694 PGA Tour starts and added 24 victories in 603 events on the Champions Tour.
June 12 – Jason Leffler, 37, former NASCAR driver. Leffler died after an accident in a heat race at a dirt car event at Bridgeport Speedway in Swedesboro, N.J. Leffler made 423 starts in NASCAR’s three national series, but won just the two Nationwide races and one Truck Series event in a career that began in 1999. After losing his NASCAR ride, Leffler had been racing dirt car events most of this year. He also made three IndyCar Series starts, finishing 17th in the 2000 Indianapolis 500.
June 12 – Dick Mansperger, 80, former director of player personnel with both the Seattle Seahawks (1975-84) and the Dallas Cowboys (1984-92).
June 13 – Scott Winkler, 23, player in Dallas Stars development system. Winkler was Dallas’ third-round selection (89th overall) in the 2008 NHL Draft.
June 14 – Gene Mako, 97, tennis great who won four major doubles titles and was ranked in the world top 10 during the 1930s. Mako and his friend Don Budge won two doubles titles at Wimbledon in 1937 and 1938 and two at the U.S. Championships in 1936 and 1938. As a singles player, Mako reached the final of the U.S. Championships in 1938, where he lost to Budge. Before turning pro, Mako won the NCAA singles and doubles championships in 1934 while at Southern California.
June 15 – Elena Ivashchenko, 28, four-time European judo champion committed suicide. Ivashchenko, who was eliminated in the quarterfinals at the London Olympics, won gold at the European Judo Championships in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012.
June 16 – Ottmar Walter, 89, member of the Germany squad that won the 1954 World Cup. Walter scored 336 goals in 321 matches for FC Kaiserslautern where he played as a center forward alongside his brother Fritz. The Walter brothers won the German league together in 1951 and ’53, and were part of the national side that won the World Cup after beating Hungary 3-2 in the 1954 final. Hungary led 2-0 before Germany recovered in what became known as the “Miracle of Berne.”
June 16 – Heinz Flohe, 65, member of West Germany’s 1974 World Cup-winning team. The former FC Cologne midfielder played 39 games for West Germany, scoring eight goals. Flohe also captained Cologne when it won the league and German cup titles in 1978. Germany won the 1974 World Cup at home, beating the Netherlands 2-1 in the final.
June 16 – Bob Meistrell, 84, co-founder of the Body Glove clothing company. In the 1950s Meistrell and his identical twin, Bill, developed a wetsuit with the insulating material used in the back of refrigerators. The streamlined suit fit like a glove and eventually was marketed under the name Body Glove.
June 17 – Ed Ehlers, 90, former three-sport athlete at Purdue. Ehlers played basketball, football and baseball. He was drafted third overall in the 1947 Basketball Association of America draft by the Boston Celtics, which was the first official NBA Draft ever held. In two seasons with the Celtics, Ehlers averaged 8.1 points per game. He was also drafted by the Chicago Bears in the 1947 NFL draft and the New York Yankees.
June 17 – Julio Chavez, 19, a defender and former captain of Chivas USA’s Under-18 team.
June 19 – Dave Jennings, 61, former New York Giants punter and radio analyst. The most prolific punter in franchise history, played for the Giants from 1974-84. He holds the franchise records for punts (931) and yards (38,792). Jennings was selected to play in the Pro Bowl in 1978, ’79, ’80 and ’82.
June 19 – Jess Stiles, 83, former Texas Tech defensive ends coach for Jim Carlen and Steve Sloan in the 1970s.
June 22 – Allan Simonsen, 34, Danish driver died following a crash at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the first driver fatality at the high-speed endurance event since 1997.
June 23 – Frank Stranahan, 90, a runner-up at two majors as an amateur and a fitness fanatic before it became vogue in golf. Stranahan was regarded as America’s best amateur since Bobby Jones. He won the British Amateur twice, and was runner-up in the 1947 Masters and 1953 British Open. He never won the U.S. Amateur, though, losing to Arnold Palmer in the championship match in 1954. Stranahan ran more than 100 marathons and was winning trophies for body building and weightlifting in his 70s.
June 25 – Jim Hudson, 70, former New York Jets safety. Hudson helped the Jets to its only Super Bowl title in 1969 against the Baltimore Colts, making a key play in the first half of the Super Bowl victory. The Colts were trailing 7-0 when they tried a flea-flicker from Earl Morrall to Tom Matte and back to Morrall, who never saw a wide-open Jimmy Orr waving his arms near the goal line. Instead, Morrall threw to Jerry Hill near the Jets 10, but Hudson stepped in front of the toss for an interception that ruined the Colts’ potential scoring drive.
June 27 – Alain Mimoun, 92, 1956 Olympic marathon winner. Mimoun, who won the 1956 Olympic marathon after losing three races to Czech great Emil Zatopek, won three silver medals in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics narrowly missing the gold each time to Zatopek. For the 1956 Games in Melbourne, Australia, he switched to the marathon from shorter-distance races and won, waiting at the finish line for Zatopek to cross in sixth place.
June 28 – Ted Hood, 86, yachtsman, yacht designer and builder, and sailmaker from Rhode Island who captained the winner of the 1974 America’s Cup. Considered an innovator in the industry, Hood was a member of both the America’s Cup Hall of Fame and the National Sailing Hall of Fame, which called him the dominant force in sailing for nearly 20 years.
June 29 – Jack “Jocko” Gotta, 83, former Canadian Football League player, coach and general manager. The former Oregon State player began his nine-year CFL career as a wide receiver and defensive back in 1956 with Calgary, Saskatchewan and Montreal. He became Ottawa’s head coach in 1970 and led the Rough Riders to the Grey Cup title in 1973. In 1974, he coached the Birmingham Americans to the first and only World Football League title. Gotta returned to the CFL to coach Calgary and Saskatchewan. He was the CFL’s coach of the year in 1972 and 1973 with Ottawa and 1978 with Calgary.
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