In 2025, we mentioned goodbye to sports figures who cemented their names in historical past via titles, comebacks, management and legacy. From the NFL, NBA, WNBA, NHL and MLB to soccer’s world stage, the school ranks and Olympic arenas, legends and beloved figures died and left behind the video games they helped form. Boxing, tennis, golf and NASCAR additionally mourned champions, whereas the deaths of rising athletes in varied sports left a void that may linger for years to come.
MLB
In baseball, Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, a cornerstone for generations of Chicago Cubs followers, died at 65. One of the period’s premier second basemen, he gained seven Silver Sluggers and 9 Gold Gloves, and was chosen to 10 consecutive All-Star Games from 1984 to 1993. The sport additionally mourned Sandy Alomar Sr., a longtime major-league infielder and the daddy of Sandy Jr. and Roberto Alomar. His greatest years got here with the California Angels, together with an All-Star look in 1970, and he was half of the 1976 New York Yankees workforce that reached the World Series. He died in October at 81.
Octavio Dotel, the primary participant to go well with up for 13 totally different MLB franchises, was among the many 236 individuals who died in an April roof collapse on the Jet Set membership in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He was 51. Davey Johnson (age 82), the supervisor who led the New York Mets to their final World Series title in 1986, and Dave Parker (age 74), an outfielder and the MVP of the 1979 All-Star Game, additionally died.
Bob Uecker, the longtime voice of the Milwaukee Brewers, comedic actor identified for his roles in “Major League” and “Mr. Belvedere,” and Hall of Fame honoree, died in January at age 90.
NFL
Nick Mangold in 2016. (Al Pereira / Getty Images)
The soccer world misplaced Nick Mangold, the previous All-Pro middle who spent all 11 of his NFL seasons with the New York Jets, at age 41. A 3-time All-Pro, he helped lead the Jets to consecutive AFC Championship Games in 2009 and 2010 earlier than retiring in 2016. Jim Irsay, the longtime proprietor of the Indianapolis Colts, died at age 65. The NFL’s youngest normal supervisor at 24 and youngest proprietor at 37, Irsay was later inducted into the Colts Ring of Honor and have become a distinguished advocate for habit consciousness and psychological well being.
Doug Martin, the previous Tampa Bay Buccaneers working again, died at 36. The thirty first general decide within the 2012 draft out of Boise State, Martin spent six seasons in Tampa Bay, later taking part in for the Oakland Raiders in 2018. He was a two-time Pro Bowler and a first-team All-Pro in 2015. The NFL additionally mourned Dallas Cowboys defensive finish Marshawn Kneeland, who died throughout his second NFL season at age 24. A second-round decide in 2024, Kneeland performed in seven video games with three begins after incomes second-team All-MAC honors at Western Michigan. Steve “Mongo” McMichael, a Pro Football Hall of Famer and Chicago Bears legend, additionally died in April at 67.
Hall of Famer Kenny Easley, a cornerstone of the Seattle Seahawks’ protection within the Eighties and one of best safeties in NFL historical past, died at age 66. Paul Tagliabue, the NFL commissioner for 17 years throughout a interval of main development and enlargement, died at 84. Under his management, the league added 4 groups and expanded its nationwide footprint. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame within the Centennial Class of 2020. Bob Trumpy, the previous Cincinnati Bengals’ tight finish and sports radio pioneer, died at 80. Trumpy performed 10 seasons in Cincinnati, incomes 4 Pro Bowl picks and first-team All-Pro honors in 1969.
NBA
Lenny Wilkens, a three-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the second-to-last player-coach in NBA historical past, died at 88. Wilkens made 9 All-Star groups in his 15-season taking part in profession and spent 32 seasons as a head coach, leaving a legacy that spanned generations as a frontrunner on the ground and on the sideline.
Elden Campbell, Clemson’s all-time main scorer, died in December at age 57. Campbell went on to an extended NBA profession, together with a memorable stint with the Los Angeles Lakers within the Nineteen Nineties. He later gained an NBA championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. Junior Bridgeman, a standout on the University of Louisville and a Milwaukee Bucks mainstay who remained carefully tied to the franchise after his taking part in days and have become a minority proprietor of the Bucks in 2024, died in March at 71. Oliver Miller, the previous NBA middle who helped the Phoenix Suns reached the 1993 NBA Finals, died at 54.
Michael Ray Richardson, a four-time NBA All-Star, died in November at age 70. Richardson, who at occasions in his life most popular to spell his identify as “Micheal,” performed eight years within the league, together with stops with the New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors and New Jersey Nets. Rodney Rogers, a Wake Forest Hall of Famer who spent 12 seasons within the NBA and gained the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2000, died in November at 54 years previous. And Gus Williams, the beloved Seattle SuperSonics guard who helped led the franchise to its solely NBA championship within the Emerald City in 1979, died at age 71.
Women’s basketball
In the worlds of WNBA and girls’s school basketball, Joye Lee-McNelis, a standout participant and later head coach at Southern Miss, died at 63. She was the fifth girl in class historical past to rating over 1,000 factors, and as in 21 seasons because the Lady Eagles’ coach, she guided the workforce to a report of 339-308 and 5 WNIT appearances. Tiana Mangakahia, an All-America and All-ACC guard who starred at Syracuse from 2017 to 2021, died at age 30. Former New York Liberty and Washington Mystics coach Richie Adubato died in November at age 87. He additionally spent 4 seasons on the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks and had stints because the interim head coach of the Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons within the NBA. Adubato’s most profitable years got here with the Liberty from 1999 to 2004, when he led the franchise to WNBA Finals appearances in 1999, 2000 and 2002.
NHL
Ken Dryden in 1974. (Melchior DiGiacomo / Getty Images)
Hockey misplaced Mel Bridgman (age 70), a former NHL ahead and the primary normal supervisor in Ottawa Senators historical past. Selected No. 1 general by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1975, Bridgman performed 14 seasons with the Flyers, Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks, serving as captain in Philadelphia and New Jersey. Ken Dryden, the Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender on the coronary heart of the Montreal Canadiens’ Nineteen Seventies dynasty, additionally died at 78. Despite taking part in solely seven full seasons, he gained six Stanley Cups and 5 Vezina Trophies. Dryden’s 1983 memoir, “The Game,” is taken into account among the many greatest sports books ever written. Ed Giacomin, a Hall of Fame goalie and enduring New York Rangers determine, died at 86. A five-time All-Star and Vezina Trophy winner, Giacomin’s No. 1 jersey was retired in 1989.
Greg Millen, who spent 14 NHL seasons as a goaltender, died in April at 67. Popular throughout six seasons with the St. Louis Blues and three with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Millen led the league in saves in back-to-back seasons with the Hartford Whalers from 1982 via 1984. Bernie Parent, the Hall of Fame goalie who backstopped the Philadelphia Flyers to consecutive Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975, was 80 when he died in April. Parent accomplished a 13-year profession, earned 5 All-Star picks and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1984. Ray Shero, a Stanley Cup-winning GM, died at age 62. Over three many years in NHL entrance workplaces, he constructed the Penguins’ first championship workforce of the Sidney Crosby period in 2009. Larry Brooks, the longtime New York Post hockey columnist whose voice was a continuing presence across the NHL, died at age 75 in November.
College sports
John Beam, longtime athletic director and former soccer coach at Laney College in Oakland, Calif., was killed at age 66. Beam, who was featured together with the Laney soccer program within the Netflix docuseries “Last Chance U,” additionally helped flip Skyline High’s soccer workforce right into a Bay Area powerhouse throughout his 17 seasons as head coach on the faculty. Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, Loyola Chicago’s beloved chaplain who captured nationwide consideration throughout the Ramblers’ 2018 Final Four run, died at age 106.
Roy Kramer, the previous SEC commissioner who remodeled the convention into one of essentially the most highly effective in school athletics and created the SEC Championship Game in 1992, died only a day earlier than this 12 months’s title sport. Kramer grew to become commissioner in 1990 after 12 years as athletic director at Vanderbilt. Former LSU receiver Kyren Lacy, who led the Tigers with 9 landing catches final season after transferring from Louisiana Lafayette, died in April at age 24. Kevin Mackey, the Cleveland State basketball coach who took the Vikings to the Sweet 16 as a No. 14 seed in 1986, died aged 79.
Bill McCartney, the winningest soccer coach in Colorado historical past, died at age 84. He led the Buffaloes to this system’s lone nationwide championship in 1990, in addition to 9 bowl appearances over 13 seasons in Boulder. Lawrence Moten, Syracuse males’s basketball’s all-time main scorer and “Poetry in Moten,” was 53 when he died in September. He compiled 2,334 factors from 1991 to 1995, leaving a Big East scoring report that stood till 2020; the Orange retired his No. 21 jersey in 2018. Chuck Neinas, a former convention commissioner whose work with the NCAA and U.S. Olympic Committee helped outline the executive panorama of school sports, died at age 93.
Soccer
Denis Law, Manchester United’s first true “King,” died at 84. The sharp spear of an excellent Sixties facet that claimed English and European titles, Law stays the one participant from Scotland to ever win the Ballon d’Or. Tragedy struck Portuguese soccer with the losses of Diogo Jota (age 28) and his youthful brother Andre Filipe Teixeira da Silva, who died collectively in a automobile crash in northwestern Spain. Jota, a ahead and winger, gained a number of main trophies with Liverpool, together with the 2024-25 Premier League, in addition to two UEFA Nations League titles with Portugal (2019 and 2025). Silva, three years his junior, was a daily starter for F.C. Penafiel in Portugal.
Boxing
Ricky Hatton after defeating Kostya Tszyu in 2005. (John Gichigi / Getty Images)
George Foreman, a 1968 Olympic gold medalist who first gained the heavyweight world championship in 1973 and reclaimed the title greater than 21 years later in 1994, died at age 76. Foreman, 45 when he gained the title the second time, is the oldest world champion within the historical past of the heavyweight division. He was a longtime boxing analyst for HBO and the lovable pitchman for his eponymous Foreman Grill. British boxing sensation Ricky Hatton, a two-weight world champion who had memorable fights with Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao and Kostya Tszyu, died in September at age 46.
Golf
Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki, a World Golf Hall of Famer who gained 113 skilled tournaments — essentially the most in Japanese golf historical past — died at age 78. Frank “Fuzzy” Zoeller, the two-time main champion who gained the Masters in his first time taking part in the event in 1979, additionally died at 74.
NASCAR
Greg Biffle, one of the NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers, died in a aircraft crash alongside together with his spouse and two youngsters in Charlotte in December. He was 55. Biffle gained 19 Cup Series races throughout a two-decade profession and captured championships in each the Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series. One of the few Pacific Northwest drivers to make a long-lasting mark in inventory automobile racing, he competed full-time within the Cup Series from 2003 to 2016.
Tennis
Nicola Pietrangeli, the Italian trailblazer who gained back-to-back French Open singles titles in 1959 and 1960 and was the primary Italian to declare a Grand Slam singles crown, died at 92. He additionally gained doubles and blended doubles titles at Roland Garros and the Italian Open. Fred Stolle, the Hall of Fame Australian who amassed 19 Grand Slam titles, together with two singles championships throughout a golden period for Australian tennis, died at 86.
Olympics and extra sports figures
Dick Button, the legendary determine skater whose Olympic performances and later work as a broadcaster left a deep imprint on the game, died in January at age 95. Button gained a gold medal in males’s singles on the 1948 Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland and once more in 1952 in Oslo, Norway.
Tragedy struck American determine skating in January, when a number of athletes have been killed in a aircraft crash on American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with an Army helicopter earlier than plunging into the Potomac River. Among the victims have been Spencer Lane and Jinna Han, together with Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, 1994 World Champions in pairs who competed in two Olympics. Figure skaters Alexandr Kirsanov, Sean Kay and Angela Yang, all getting back from a nationwide growth camp in Wichita, Kansas, additionally died within the crash.
Boris Spassky, the previous chess world champion greatest identified for his 1972 loss to Bobby Fischer within the “Match of the Century,” died in Moscow at age 88. Sports commentator and creator John Feinstein, who contributed to NPR, ESPN, the Golf Channel and Sirius XM and wrote greater than 40 books on a variety of sports, died at 69.
Hulk Hogan, one of essentially the most recognizable U.S. celebrities of the previous half-century and a central determine in skilled wrestling’s explosive development within the Eighties and ’90s, died at age 74.