Monday, legendary singer James Brown died at age 73. Tuesday, former U.S. president Gerald Ford died at age 93. And Friday, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was executed at age 69. Truly a strange, morbid final week of 2006.
The three deaths this week remind me of what could only be described as the worst three weeks in the history of sports — the time period between October 12 and November 1, 1999. In those twenty days, three major figures in American sports died.
On October 12, it was NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain, arguably the best player in the history of the league. Chamberlain was only 63 when he suffered a fatal heart attack. The NBA, which was getting ready to start its first full season since 1997, honored Chamberlain throughout the season and the Golden State Warriors posthumously retired his jersey in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
While the death of Wilt Chamberlain was a shock to the sports world, the sudden, bizarre death of Payne Stewart days later was a complete, unforeseen tragedy. Stewart, a golf star who had just won the 1999 U.S. Open and helped the United States team win in the Ryder Cup just over a month earlier, was involved in a disturbing plane crash where all those aboard died of asphyxiation before the plane landed. The death of Stewart, 42, cast a pall on the sports world, including the World Series which was going on at that time. Adding to the general depression surrounding sports at that time, Yankees star Paul O’Neill’s father also passed away during the World Series.
To complete one of the most draining periods in sports history, NFL legend and Chicago Bears icon Walter Payton died on November 1st, 1999, after a battle with a rare liver disease. Payton, a key figure on the 1985 Chicago Bears championship team, was only 45 years old and just over a decade removed from his playing days.
Thankfully, a disastrous series of events like that hasn’t repeated itself since. But it just goes to show just how horribly sports can be “put back into perspective”, to quote the tired cliche.
