Goodbye to Gerrie Coetzee at the age of 67.
Coetzee won the WBA heavyweight title via tenth-round knockout over Michael Dokes in Richfield, Ohio in 1983 after failed attempts at that title against John Tate and Mike Weaver and was scheduled twice to unify the heavyweight title with Larry Holmes, with Holmes dropping the WBC title and give legitimacy to the new IBF.
However, the fight never occurred with Coetzee needing surgery on his chronically painful "Bionic" right hand, and the prospective promoters never actually arriving with the promised financial backing with Coetzee losing the title via knockout to Greg Page in his first defense over a year later in Coetzee's home country of South Africa.
The loss to Page was controversial as the round lasted 3:40 when Coetzee was counted out and he wouldn't receive a rematch as Page would drop the title to Tony Tubbs in his first defense (followed by Tubbs losing to Tim Witherspoon in his initial defense).
Coetzee's biggest win in his career other than the Dokes upset as he destroyed former champion Leon Spinks in one round to earn the shot against John Tate for the title vacated by Muhammad Ali after winning his rematch against Spinks.
Goodbye to Charles White at the age of 64.
The 1979 Heisman winner for USC, White was one of several Heisman-caliber running backs for the Trojans from 1965-81 (Winners Mike Garrett, O.J. Simpson, White, and Marcus Allen along with Heisman runner-up Ricky Bell) and was the first-round pick by the Cleveland Browns in 1980.
White rushed for over two thousand yards and scored nineteen touchdowns in his Heisman season, dethroning 1978 winner Billy Sims of Oklahoma, denying Sims a record-tying second Heisman.
White struggled in his four years in Cleveland, rushing for 942 yards in that time, and never earned a starting position before being released after the 1984 season.
White's issues stemmed from drug addiction and he would serve as a backup for the Rams and college coach John Robinson for two seasons before an unlikely comeback year in 1987 as White stepped in for Eric Dickerson, who was holding out and then was traded to the Colts at midseason and gained 1,374 yards with eleven touchdowns in a strike season.
White was named to the Pro Bowl in 1987 and would play one more season before his retirement.
Goodbye to Kenton Edelin at the age of 60.
Edelin was a walk-on at Virginia and played his freshman year on the junior varsity before making the varsity as a sophomore as the physical backup center and occasional enforcer for Ralph Sampson.
A hard-nosed rebounder and defender, Virginia made the Final Four in 1984 with Edelin at center- not Sampson, who had been drafted first overall by the Houston Rockets in 1983.
Edelin was drafted in the seventh round in the 1984 draft by the Indiana Pacers and made the team as a seldom-used reserve, playing in only ten games.
Edelin retired after his rookie season and became a successful attorney and agent.
Goodbye to Cliff Gustafson at the age of 91.
The legendary baseball coach at the University of Texas led the Longhorns to seventeen trips to the College World Series (a still-standing record) and two national championships (1975 and 83) during his twenty-nine coaching career.
Gustafson also won the SWC regular season title twenty-two times and the league tournament on eleven occasions and coached numerous future major leaguers and first-round draft picks, most notably Roger Clemens.
Gustafson's 1983 National Champions produced four future big leaguers from the pitching staff alone: Clemens, Calvin Schiraldi, Bruce Ruffin, and Mike Capel.
Goodbye to Bill Campbell at the age of 74.
Campbell appeared in seventy-eight games for the Twins in 1976, winning seventeen and saving twenty, and was lucky enough to be part of the first class of free agents in 1977 coming off a career season.
Boston signed Campbell, who responded with thirteen wins, a league-leading thirty-one saves, and his only All-Star selection but the sixty-nine appearances combined with his use in Minnesota caused Campbell's decline that would never see him reach the same level of effectiveness again.
Campbell was named the American League Fireman of the Year for both 1976 and 1977.
Campbell would pitch until 1987 with five more teams after leaving Boston after the 1981 season.
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