rackmonster said:
This has happened before.....Oct 24, 1971. Tiger Stadium, Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions.
Chuck Hughes was a back-up wide out for the Lions. He wore #85. Late in the game, the Lions trailed 28-23. With 1:02 left in the game Hughes was running back to the Lions huddle and suddenly collapsed and went into convulsions. There was no contact involved. Dick Butkus, MLB for the Bears, leaned over Hughes and became immediately alarmed and frantically motioned for the Lions medical staff. Hughes was taken off the field on a stretcher and declared dead at the hospital at 5:35 local time....but he was actually dead on the field. He is still the only NFL player to die on the field.
I was in high school in 1971. Chuck Hughes was a familiar name to me because he spent his first 3 NFL seasons (67-69) with my Philadelphia Eagles. He was born in Philadelphia, but moved to Texas with his family as a child. He attended Abilene High School and played his college ball at Texas Western (now called UTEP). He still holds numerous records there and was inducted in UTEP HOF in 2006. He was a 4th round pick by the Eagles in 1967. He was mainly a back up, but very reliable when given the opportunity.
An autopsy revealed that Hughes had congenital heart disease....and very advanced for a man that young. One of his arteries was 75% blocked. He had complained of chest pains earlier in that season, but continued to play. He left behind a wife and a 1 year old son. He was buried in San Antonio, Tex.
There was an article this morning in the Philly paper about Chuck Hughes.
"Recalling an ex-Eagle who died on the field in 1971" by Mike Sielski.
Hughes spent the 1970 Training Camp with the Eagles, but was traded to Detroit just before the season started. Ray Didinger was a life-long Eagles reporter who began to cover the team in 1970. He said most of the players were not that friendly to the reporters, but Chuck always was. Always wore a cowboy hat...and loved listening to C&W, especially Waylon Jennings. He had a good 1970 season with the Lions, caught 8 passes for 162 yards, and helped the Lions reach the playoffs. (they lost to the Cowboys at the Cotton Bowl by a strange "baseball" score of 5-0.....the Cowboys would go on to lose Super Bowl V to the Baltimore Colts 16-13)
Chuck Hughes' widow, Sharon, told a haunting story to the Deroit Free Press in 1991, 20 years after his death. She said the night before the Bears game, they got into an argument...a rather innocuous one...about wether their 2 year old son was old enough to chew gum. The argument got heated....and Chuck left to spend the night at the team hotel.
They never spoke again.