Cleaning out the Inbox: Passings- Football Edition

 It's a long-overdue post of tributes for people of note who have recently passed away.

It is so overdue that I have enough from football itself to carry their own post from the world of football.

Goodbye to Joe Campbell at the age of 68.

Campbell followed the great All-American Randy White as the Maryland Terrapins defensive star after White's departure as the second overall pick by Dallas in the 1975 NFL draft and while Campbell wasn't as great as White, Campbell was excellent for the Terrapins in their undefeated 1976 regular season (they would lose the Cotton Bowl to Houston), leading the team in sacks and was also named a consensus All-American.

Campbell was drafted seventh overall by New Orleans in the 1977 draft and would play seven seasons in the NFL with the Saints, Raiders, and Buccaneers, winning a Super Bowl ring with the 1980 Raiders, and finishing his career with eight sacks, five and a half of those in 1978 with New Orleans.

Goodbye to Dick Sheridan at the age of 81.

Sheridan was named to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2020 after a career record of 121-52-5 compiled at Furman and N.C. State from 1978-1992.

Sheridan took over the N.C. State program in 1986 and in his seven seasons with the Wolfpack, Sheridan finished with six bowl appearances and won nine games in each of his final two seasons in Raleigh.

Just as it seemed that N.C. State was moving towards becoming a major power in the ACC, Sheridan resigned in 1993 due to physical problems and at only fifty-one, Sheridan's coaching career was at its end.

Goodbye to Johnny Lujack at the age of 98.

The 1948 Heisman Trophy winner at Notre Dame, Lujack led the Irish to the National Title three times, first in 1943 before his career was interrupted by World War II.

Lujack returned to South Bend in 1946 and added the remaining two titles after his wartime service.

Lujack is the last Notre Dame athlete to earn letters in four sports, lettering in baseball, football, basketball, and track.

Lujack was the first-round pick of the Chicago Bears in 1946 but didn't turn pro until 1948, playing quarterback and safety, where Lujack intercepted eight passes in 1948 to tie the then-league record.

Lujack would be named All-Pro in 1950 and led the league in passing and passing touchdowns in 1949 before retiring after the 1951 season.

Goodbye to Johnie Cooks at the age of 64.

Cooks was the second overall pick in the 1982 NFL Draft by the then-Baltimore Colts from Mississippi State, where he was a first-team All-American in his senior season, and played ten seasons in the league for the Colts, Browns, and Giants.

Cooks finished his career with thirty-two sacks with eleven and a half of those coming in 1984 with the Indianapolis Colts in their first season in Indiana.

Cooks would win a Super Bowl ring with the 1990 Giants as a reserve linebacker before his final season with the Browns in 1991.

Goodbye to Zenon Andrusyshyn at the age of 76.

Andrusyshyn played in three leagues in his career, serving as the kicker and punter for the CFL's Toronto Argonauts among three other Canadian teams, and the USFL's Tampa Bay Bandits along with a punting-only season in 1978 with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Andrusyshyn was a two-time All-American at UCLA before the Cowboys drafted him in the ninth round in 1970 but failed to make the team.

Andrusyshyn moved to the CFL for most of his career and in 1977 for the Argonauts, nailed a 108-yard punt, which still stands as the longest punt in professional football history.

Goodbye to Sean Dawkins at the age of 52.

A star receiver at Cal for the Golden Bears, Dawkins was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the first round of the 1993 draft and would play five of his nine pro seasons as a Colt.

A consistent but not spectacular receiver, Dawkins caught over fifty passes in seven of his nine seasons and over seven hundred yards receiving in seven as well.

Dawkins's best season was 1999 with Seattle, catching fifty-eight passes for 992 yards and seven touchdowns.

Cleaning out the inbox

Time for another cleaning of the inbox and lets start with Mike Tyson!
Not only just a dominant heavyweight champion of his time,Tyson might be even more famous to people under a certain age for the Nintendo classic-Mike Tyson's Punch Out.
I played lots of Tyson's Punch Out with Ryan and my buddy Greg during those "Nintendo" years and I never even fought Mike Tyson,which shows you that I may have been an avid player,but not a very good one!
The interesting part from the inbox is from the Comeback,which reports that Nintendo paid Tyson just 50,000 dollars to license his use in the game.
This was a phenomenal bargain even then,but the post manages to make one think about just much that Mike Tyson would have made in today's media market.
Nintendo didn't renew that contract,which I'm sure many might wonder why they didn't,but around the end of the contract,Tyson was stopped by Buster Douglas in Japan,home of Nintendo and wasn't as valuable thereafter or so Nintendo thought....

Last month,the Monday Morning Quarterback page on SI.com held a 1967 week where they were looking back at some fun topics from 1967 since this would be an anniversary year.
Two of them that I found interesting were on the expansion New Orleans Saints and on the original enigma Joe Don Looney...

Joe Don Looney was a running back that had the ability (so says most observers) to be one of the best of his era,yet between an unwillingness to bend to coaches,suspected steroid use,drug use,yoga,drafted to Vietnam and even more wound up washing out of the league.
The Looney story really has to be read to be believed.but the life this man led was interesting on its own,but if he truly was that good of a back,seemed like quite the waste of talent...

Meanwhile,in 1967,the expansion New Orleans Saints were beginning their first season in the league under owner John Mecom,who discusses his tenure owning the Saints and includes his on field fight DURING a 1967 game in Yankee Stadium against the Giants!
The article talks about the craziness involving an expansion team in those less than organized days with players in and out the door,training camps,aging veterans (including Hall of Fame defensive end Doug Atkins),rookies like John Gilliam (a future All-Pro) that took the first kickoff in the history of the franchise for a touchdown,fights,fans and more.
I love reading about startup teams and franchises in the days where information was so limited because I usually hear at least one story that I've never heard before...

A article in the LA Times on former punter Zenon Andrusyshen focuses on the punter's missed extra point for UCLA in their one point loss in the 1967 version of the "Game of the century" to USC and a fellow that you likely have forgotten-O.J. Simpson.
Andrusyshen would spend several seasons in the CFL with the Toronto Argonauts before a stint with the Chiefs and my best memory with the USFL's Tampa Bay Bandits for all three years of the league.
I found it really honest as Andrusyshen talks about his arrogance in his youth,how he was treated after the loss,his tirade at the UCLA team banquet after his senior year and his current charitable endeavors...

David Letterman has sent a ton of memorabilia from his career back to his alma mater at Ball State.
The gift includes the marquee from the Ed Sullivan theatre,Letterman's desk and chair from the show,guest chairs and many more.
There must be loads of things sent to the Muncie,Indiana campus that haven't been noted to the public since 2015.
I'm hoping that down the road that many of these items might be on display and maybe make Muncie a stop for tourists other than Gerry Gergich.