Football News / Obituaries

2025

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April

(Obituary) April 4, 2025 – Ray Seals, a defensive lineman in the NFL for eight seasons, dies at the age of 59. Seals did not play college football but played minor-league football for the Syracuse Express of the Empire Football League. He signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and played for the team from 1989-1993. He also played for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1994 and 1995 and played in Super Bowl XXX with the Steelers. He finished his playing career with the Carolina Panthers in 1997.

(Obituary) April 3, 2025 – Dean Wells, a linebacker in the NFL for nine seasons, dies at the age of 54. Wells played college football at Kentucky and was selected in the fourth round of the 1993 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks. He played in Seattle from 1993-1998. He also played for the Carolina Panthers from 1999-2001.

(Obituary) April 2, 2025 – John Vella, a tackle in the NFL for eight seasons, dies at the age of 74. Vella played college football at USC and was selected in the second round of the 1972 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders. He played for the Raiders from 1972-1979 but missed the 1978 season due to an injury. He finished his playing career with the Minnesota Vikings in 1980. Vella won Super Bowl XI as a member of the Raiders.

(Obituary) April 2, 2025 – Bob Holladay, a defensive back in the NFL for two seasons, dies at the age of 93. Holladay played college football at Tulsa. He signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Rams in 1956. He was traded to the San Francisco 49ers during the season and finished his brief playing career with the 49ers in 1957. He then became a player scout for the Rams.

March

(Obituary) March 5, 2025 – Terry Wilson, a defensive back, halfback, and end in the Canadian Football League for nine seasons, dies at the age of 83. Wilson played college football at Stanford and signed with the Edmonton Eskimos, where he played from 1964-1967. He also played for the Calgary Stampeders from 1968-1972, winning a Grey Cup title with the team in 1971.    

(Obituary) March 7, 2025 – Norris Thomas, a defensive back in the NFL and Canadian Football League, dies at the age of 70. Thomas played college football at Southern Mississippi and was selected in the ninth round of the 1976 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. He played for the Dolphins from 1977-1979 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1980-1984. He also played in the CFL with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1994 and the Baltimore Stallions in 1995, winning a Grey Cup title with the Stallions.

(Obituary) March 7, 2025 – Barrymore Moton, a defensive end in the Canadian Football League for one season, dies at the age of 62. Moton played college football at Illinois State. He played for the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1989.

(Obituary) March 8, 2025 – Al Matthews, a defensive back in the NFL for eight seasons, dies at the age of 77. Matthews played college football at Texas A&M-Kingsville and was selected in the second round of the 1970 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. He played for the Packers from 1970-1975. He also played for the Seattle Seahawks in 1976 and the San Francisco 49ers in 1977.    

(Obituary) March 10, 2025 – Craig Wolfley, an offensive lineman in the NFL for 12 seasons, dies of cancer at the age of 66. Wolfley played college football at Syracuse and was selected in the fifth round of the 1980 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played for the Steelers from 1980-1989 and finished his playing career with the Minnesota Vikings in 1990 and 1991. He then became a broadcaster for the Steelers as a color analyst and a sideline reporter. He also co-hosted a radio show with a former teammate.  

(Obituary) March 14, 2025 – Ken Hall, a halfback and punter in the NFL, the American Football League and the Canadian Football League, dies at the age of 89. Hall played college football at Texas A&M and then played for the CFL Edmonton Eskimos in 1957. He was then selected in the 14th round of the 1958 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Colts. However, he signed with the Chicago Cardinals and played one season with the team in 1959. Hall then played for the AFL Houston Oilers in 1960 and 1961, winning two AFL titles. He finished the 1961 season playing for the St. Louis Cardinals.

(Obituary) March 15, 2025 – Paul Flatley, a wide receiver in the NFL for eight seasons, dies at the age of 84. Flatley played college football at Northwestern and was selected in the fourth round of the 1963 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings. He was also selected in the seventh round of the 1963 American Football League Draft by the Denver Broncos. He signed with the Vikings where he played from 1963-1967 and was named the 1963 NFL Rookie of the Year. He also played for the Atlanta Falcons from 1968-1970. After his playing career, he became a broadcaster and was a color commentator for the Vikings and the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. Flatley was inducted into the Chicagoland Hall of Fame in 2011.

the 1964 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. He was also selected in the 10th round of the 1964 American Football League by the San Diego Chargers. He signed with the Packers and played for the team from 1964-1967, winning three straight NFL titles including the first two Super Bowls. He also played for the Atlanta Falcons in 1968, the Washington Redskins in 1969, under head coach Vince Lombardi, and the Los Angeles Rams in 1970.

(Obituary) March 16, 2025 – Bob Long, a wide receiver in the NFL for seven seasons, dies at the age of 83. Long played college football at Wichita State and was selected in the fourth round of

(Obituary) March 18, 2025 – Derrick Gaffney, a wide receiver in the NFL for eight seasons, dies at the age of 69. Gaffney played college football at Florida and was selected in the eighth round of the 1978 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. He played for the Jets from 1978-1984. He came out of retirement to re-sign with the Jets in 1987 during a players strike and played in two replacement games.  

(Obituary) March 20, 2025 – Matt Stevens, a defensive back in the NFL for eight seasons, dies at the age of 51. Stevens played college football at Appalachian State and was selected in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills. He played for the Bills in 1996, Philadelphia Eagles from 1997–1998, Washington Redskins from 1998–2000, New England Patriots from 2000–2001 and Houston Texans in 2002 and 2003. He won Super Bowl 36 with the Patriots.

(Obituary) March 20, 2025 – Bill Cottrel, an offensive lineman in the NFL for five seasons, dies at the age of 80. Cottrell played college football at Delaware State. He played one season in the Continental Football League with the Richmond Rebels and then signed with the Detroit Lions, where he played from 1967-1970. He holds the distinction as being the first African-American to play center in the NFL in 1969. Cottrel finished his playing career with the Denver Broncos in 1972.

(Obituary) March 21, 2025 – Kenneth Sims, a defensive end in the NFL for eight seasons, dies at the age of 65. Sims played college football at Texas and was the first overall pick in the 1982 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. He played his entire career with the Patriots from 1982-1989. Sims was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2021.

(Obituary) March 22, 2025 – Bill Mercer, a journalist and sports broadcaster in Dallas Texas, dies at the age of 99. Mercer graduated from North Texas and called games for the Dallas Cowboys, the Cotton Bowl Game and the MLB Texas Rangers. He covered the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and was the first to inform Lee Harvy Oswald that he was being charged with the assassination of the President. Mercer authored several books including "When the News Went Live: Dallas 1963," recounting his experience covering the Kennedy assassination, and "Play-by-Play: Tales from a Sportscasting Insider," a memoir of his illustrious career. Mercer is a member of the University of North Texas Athletic Department Hall of Fame as well as the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, the Texas Radio Hall of Fame and Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Hall of Fame.

(Obituary) March 24, 2025 – Eugene "Chick" Cichowski, a cornerback in the NFL and the Canadian Football League, dies at the age of 90. Cichowski played college football at Indiana and was selected in the 21st round of the 1957 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played for the Steelers in 1957 and the Washington Redskins in 1958 and 1959. He finished his playing career with the CFL Calgary Stampeders in 1960 and 1961. He went on to be a high school football coach at New Trier High School in Illinois for 20 years and posted a record of 145–47–1. Cichowski was inducted into the Illinois Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1992 and the American Football Association Hall of Fame in 2009.

(Obituary) March 29, 2025 – Don Oakes, an offensive and defensive tackle in the NFL and the American Football League for eight seasons, dies at the age of 88. Oakes played college football at Virginia Tech and was selected in the third round of the 1961 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. He was also selected 21st round of the 1961 American Football League Draft by the Boston Patriots. He signed with the Eagles where he played in 1961 and 1962. He also played for the Patriots from 1963-1968.

February

(Obituary) February 4, 2025 – Terry Fernandez, a linebacker who played in the Canadian Football League and the Continental Football League, dies at the age of 82. Fernandez played college football at Pearl River Junior College in Mississippi and at the University of Southwestern Louisiana-Lafayette. He played for the CFL Montreal Alouettes in 1965. He went on to play in the Continental Football league with the Norfolk Neptunes and Orlando Panthers.

(Obituary) February 5, 2025 – Ernest Kellermann, a defensive back in the NFL for eight seasons, dies at the age of 81. Kellerman played college football at Miami (OH) and was selected in the 12th round of the 1965 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. However, he was cut by the Cowboys and signed with the Cleveland Browns where he played for six seasons, from 1965-1971. He finished his playing career with the Cincinnati Bengals in 1972 and the Buffalo Bills in 1973.

(Obituary) February 5, 2025 – Howard Twilley, Jr., a wide receiver in the NFL for 11 seasons, dies at the age of 81. Twilley played college football at Tulsa and was selected in the 14th round of the 1966 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings. He was also selected in the 12th round of the 1966 American Football League Draft by the Miami Dolphins. He signed with the Dolphins and played his entire career in Miami from 1966-1976. He won Super Bowls VII and VIII with the Dolphins and was a part of the team’s perfect season in 1972. Twilley was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.

(Obituary) February 6, 2025 – Virginia McCaskey, principal owner of the Chicago Bears, dies at the age of 102. Mrs. McCaskey was the daughter of team founder and longtime head coach, George Halas. She took over ownership of the Bears after her father died in 1983. McCaskey was a toddler when she accompanied her father and the Bears during the Red Grange barnstorming tour in 1925-26. Grange would carry her in front of him through train stations on the tour so that fans wouldn't recognize him and mob him for autographs. In 1932, she attended the NFL's first indoor game, watching the Bears capture the league championship by blanking the Portsmouth Spartans 9-0 at Chicago Stadium. She attended Drexel University in Philadelphia, where she studied business management and met her future husband, Ed McCaskey, who was a student at the University of Pennsylvania. The two were married on Feb. 2, 1943, her father's 48th birthday. They were married for 60 years and raised 11 children. Ed passed away April 8, 2003, at the age of 83. In 1985, the Bears won Super Bowl XX defeating the New England Patriots 46-10. Mrs. McCaskey attended her final Bears game, on her 102nd birthday, January 5. It was a victory over the rival Green Bay Packers in Green Bay.

(Obituary) February 8, 2025 – Dick Jauron, a defensive back and a head coach in the NFL, dies at the age of 74. Jauron played college football at Yale and was selected in the fourth round of the 1973 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. He played for the Lions from 1973-1977 and finished his playing career with the Cincinnati Bengals from 1978-1980. He then went into coaching in the NFL. From 1985-1998, he was an assistant coach with the Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers and Jacksonville Jaguars. He was the head coach of the Chicago Bears from 1999-2003 and then spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Lions. He was also the interim head coach of the Lions for the last five games of the 2005 season. Jauron was the head coach of the Buffalo Bills from 2006-2009 and finished his coaching career as an assistant coach with the Cleveland Browns in 2011 and 2012.

January

(Obituary) January 2, 2025 – Morris Bradshaw Jr., a wide receiver in the NFL for nine seasons, dies at the age of 72. Bradshaw played college football at Ohio State and was selected in the fourth round of the 1974 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders. He played for the Raiders from 1974-1981 and finished his playing career with the New England Patriots in 1982. He won two Super Bowls with the Raiders in 1976 and 1980. He went on to work for the Raiders in the front office for nearly thirty years.

(Obituary) January 7, 2025 – Cleveland “Chick” Harris, a longtime assistant coach in college and the NFL, dies at the age of 79. Harris played wide receiver in college at Northern Arizona and began his college coaching career at Colorado State, Long Beach State and Washington from 1970-1980. He then moved on to the NFL where he was an assistant with the Buffalo Bills, Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans from 1981-2013.  

(Obituary) January 8, 2025 - Paul Vellano, a defensive tackle in the World Football League for two seasons, dies at the age of 72. Vellano played college football at Maryland and was selected in the 14th round of the 1974 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. However, he signed with the WFL Florida Blazers and played one season with the team in 1974. The Blazers lost to the Birmingham Americans 22-21 in the 1974 World Bowl championship game. He was playing for the WFL San Antonio Wings in 1975 when the league folded due to financial issues. 

(Obituary) January 10, 2025 –Bill McCartney, a college football head coach for 13 seasons, dies at the age of 84. McCartney began his college coaching career as an assistant coach at Michigan for eight and a half years under Hall of Fame Coach Bo Schembechler before becoming the head coach at Colorado in 1982. He led the team from 1982-1994 and won a national championship in 1990. He posted a record of 93-55-5 and took the team to nine bowl games. McCartney was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013.

(Obituary) January 17, 2025 – Don McCall, a running back in the NFL and the World Football League, dies at the age of 80, McCall played college football at USC and was selected in the fifth round of the 1967 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints. He played for the Saints in 1967 and 1968, then played one season with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969 before returning to the Saints for one final season in 1970. McCall finished his playing career in the WFL with the Southern California Sun in 1974 and the San Antonio Wings in 1975.  

(Obituary) January 18, 2025 – Herschel Turner, an offensive lineman in the NFL for x seasons, dies at the age of 82. Turner played college football at Kentucky and was selected in the second round of the 1964 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was also selected in the ninth round of the 1964 American Football League Draft by the Oakland Raiders. He signed with the Cardinals and played two seasons with the team in 1964 and 1965. His playing career was cut short due to a knee injury.

(Obituary) January 18, 2025 – Jerry Mazzanti, a defensive end in the NFL for three seasons, dies at the age of 84. Mazzanti played college football at Arkansas and was selected in the 16th round of the 1962 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. He was also selected in the 25th round of the 1963 American Football League Draft by the San Diego Chargers. He signed with the Eagles and played for the team for one season in 1963. He also played for the Detroit Lions in 1966 and the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1967. After football he became a lawyer and received an appointed as a circuit judge for Arkansas's 10th Judicial District by then-Governor Bill Clinton, a position he held for two decades until his retirement.

(Obituary) January 20, 2025 – Tommy Brasher, an assistant football coach in college and in the NFL, dies at the age of 84. Brasher was an offensive lineman and linebacker in college at Arkansas and went on to be an assistant coach at Arkansas, Virginia Tech, Northeast Louisiana (now Louisiana-Monroe) and SMU between 1970 and 1981. He also spent a season as defensive coordinator for the Shreveport Steamers of the World Football League in 1975. He spent another 27 seasons, between 1982 and 2015, as an assistant coach in the NFL with the New England Patriots (1982-1984), Philadelphia Eagles (1985; 1999-2005; 2012), Atlanta Falcons (1986-89), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1990), Seattle Seahawks (1992-1998) and Kansas City Chiefs (2013-2015). In 2015, he was the NFL's oldest assistant coach at the age of 75. He also spent two more seasons with the Chiefs working Special Projects. Brasher was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2022.

(Obituary) January 22, 2025 – Calvin Jones, a running back in the NFL for three seasons, dies at the age of 54. Jones played college football at Nebraska and was selected in the third round of the 1994 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Raiders. He played two seasons for the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders in 1994-1995 and finished his playing career with the Green Bay Packers in 1996, winning Super Bowl XXXI with the Packers. After that, He played for an indoor football team called the Omaha Beef. Jones was inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.

(Obituary) January 26, 2025 – William 'Bill' Gaspard de Coligny, who played tackle for one season in the Canadian Football League, dies at the age of 87. De Coligny played college football at Trinity College in Massachusetts and spent one season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1960.

(Obituary) January 28, 2025 – Bruce Gossett, a kicker in the NFL for 11 seasons, dies at the age of 78. Gossett played college football at the University of Richmond and signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Rams in 1964. He played for the team through 1969 then signed with the San Francisco 49ers where he played from 1970-1974. 

(Obituary) January 29, 2025 – Gene Schroeder, a wide receiver and safety in the NFL for six seasons, dies at the age of 95. Schroeder played college football at Virginia and was the 12th overall pick in the 1951 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. He played his entire career with the Bears. He played for the team in 1951 and 1952, then spent time in the Navy before returning to the team in 1954. His finished his playing career with the Bears in 1957.  

(Obituary) January 29, 2025 - John Huard, a linebacker in the NFL, the American Football League and the Canadian Football League, dies at the age of 80. Huard played college football at Maine and was selected in the fifth round of the 1967 NFL Draft by the AFL Denver Broncos. He played for the Broncos from 1967-1969 and the NFL New Orleans Saints in 1971. Huard finished his playing career in the CFL with the Montreal Alouettes from 1972-1973. Huard was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2014. He was the first played ever inducted to the HOF from the University of Maine.