Foreman, Uecker, ‘Ryno’ among stars lost in 2025

By David Mullen

As the sports world turns the calendar page to 2026, we present our annual reflection on the sports stars, administrators and personalities lost in 2025.

Locally, former Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars owner Tom Hicks died at 79. The Stars won the 1999 Stanley Cup championship while Hicks was owner. Marshawn Kneeland, 24, a defensive end prospect for the Dallas Cowboys, died by a reported suicide, which left the team and fans stunned. Cowboys’ All-Pro linebacker and Super Bowl champion Lee Roy Jordan died at 84 and Dallas offensive lineman Tom Rafferty died at 70. Former Dallas Mavericks and WNBA coach Richie Adubato passed away at 87.

College and professional football followers were saddened by the loss of former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, 84, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Ersay, 65, and former tight end and NBC broadcaster Bob Trumpy, 80. 

Star players lost include Hall of Fame safety Kenny Easley, 66, Minnesota Vikings and famed member of the “Purple People Eaters,” Jim Marshall, 87, Oakland Raiders star defensive back George Atkinson, 78, and all-Pro center Nick Mangold, 41. 

The Chicago Bears lost Hall of Famer Steve “Mongo” McMichael, 67, and owner Virginia McCaskey, 102. 

Former Stanford head coach Paul Wiggin, 91, and UC Berkeley head coach Mike White, 89, died. John Beam, 66, was the longtime athletic director and former football coach at Oakland’s Laney College and star of the Netflix docuseries “Last Chance U.” The winningest coach in Colorado history, Bill McCartney, died at 84. Influential college commissioners Roy Kramer, 96, and Chuck Neinas, 93, died, as did Loyola Chicago chaplain and superfan Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, at 106.

In baseball, the death of Bob Uecker, 90, means there will be no more “Mr. Baseball.” Johnny Carson gave Uecker — a baseball ambassador, deft storyteller and longtime voice of the Milwaukee Brewers — the “Mr. Baseball” moniker. He was a frequent “Tonight Show” guest. In the late 1970s, at a Brewers Cactus League game in Sun City, Ariz. with a few hundred fans in attendance, Uecker’s unamplified voice could be heard broadcasting the game. It was truly “bonus coverage.” Hall of Famer second baseman Ryne “Ryno” Sandberg, 65, was a Chicago Cubs star in the 1980s and early 1990s. He was a 10-time All-Star. Also passing were Dave “The Cobra” Parker, 74, victorious World Series player and manager Davey Johnson, 82, Red Sox star Mike Greenwell, 62, outfielder Chet Lemon, 70, infielder Felix Mantilla, 90, closer Bobby Jenks, 44, catcher and manager Jeff Torborg, 83, Sandy Alomar Sr., 81, pitcher Octavio Dotel, 51, former Cy Young Award winner Randy Jones, 75, and former commissioner Fay Vincent, 86. Executive Walt Jocketty died at 74 and BALCO owner Victor Conte, who was linked to Barry Bonds PED use, died at 75. 

In basketball, Hall of Fame player and coach Lenny Wilkens, 88, was one of the last NBA player-coaches. A gregarious figure, Utah Jazz coach Frank Layden died at 93. Dick Barnett, who played on two New York Knicks NBA championship teams, died at 88. Other noted passings include Gus Williams, 71, who led the Seattle SuperSonics to their lone NBA championship in 1979, four-time NBA All-Star Michael Ray Richardson, 70, Rodney Rogers, 54, Elden Campbell, 57, Milwaukee Bucks star Junior Bridgeman, 71, and center Oliver Miller, 54. Women’s basketball lost Joye Lee-McNelis, 63, and All-American Tiana Mangakahia,30. 

The hockey world lost Hall of Fame goalies Ken Dryden, 78, Bernie Parent, 80, and Eddie Giacomin, 86. Detroit Red Wing and Hall of Famer Alex Delvecchio died at 93. Also passing were goalie Greg Millen, 67, forward and executive Mel Bridgman, 70, and NHL executive Ray Sharo, 75.

Olympic gold medalist, two-time heavyweight champion and noted TV pitchman George Foreman, 76, died in Houston. Foreman, who invented the multi-million-unit selling hamburger cooker Foreman Grill, had 12 children, including five sons all named George. Boxers Ricky Hatton, 46, Dwight Muhammad Qawi, 72, and Muhammad Ali’s younger brother Rahaman Ali, 82, all passed away.

Professional golf mourned the losses of Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki, 78, winner of 113 professional tournaments, two-time major champion Frank “Fuzzy” Zoeller, 74, and noted long hitter Jim Dent, 85. Mother and major influence of Tiger Woods, Kultida Woods, 80, passed away. Kultida encouraged Tiger to wear his signature red golf shirts on Sundays.

Noted columnist, author and sports commentator John Feinstein, a popular fixture on ESPN and NPR, died at 69. Sports broadcasters ESPN’s Mike Patrick, 80, “Sports Science” host John Brenkus, 53, and MSG’s Al Trautwig, passed away in 2025. And Olympic gold medal figure skater and noted broadcaster Dick Button, died at 95.

Soccer lost Man U legend Denis Law, 84, and Portuguese star Diogo Jota at age 28. NASCAR was stunned by a plane crash that took the life of star driver Greg Biffle, 55. The oldest living NASCAR driver, Rex White, 95, and Formula 1 team owner Eddie Jordan, 76, also passed away. Tennis stars Italy’s Nicola Pietrangeli, 92, and Australian Fred Stolle, 86, who amassed 19 Grand Slam tournament titles, died. 

Chess legend Boris Spassky, 88, who lost the “Match of the Century” to American Bobby Fischer in 1972, died in Moscow. The first female winner of the Boston Marathon, Nina Kuscsik, died at 86. Horse racing lost Secretariat jockey Ron Turcotte, 84, and 15-time Triple Crown race winner trainer D. Wayne Lukas, 89. Sports personality and one of the key figures behind pro wrestling’s popularity, Hulk Hogan, died at 74. All left their sports legacy behind in 2025.