Ray mansfield steelers obituary template

ELI LIRA FROM CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO: What are your thoughts regarding the new rules approved during the NFL Owners Meeting in Orlando? Specifically, the banning the "hip-drop tackle" and the changes in the kickoff. By the way, thanks.
ANSWER: When it comes to changing kickoffs, I really think I'm going to have to see it practiced and then executed in games. A few XFL clips don't provide enough of an idea of the impact on both the receiving team and the kicking team. As for the hip-drop tackle, there is credible recent video evidence of offensive players sustaining injuries that sidelined them for significant hunks of the regular season. And the NFL is trending toward a product erring on the side of high-flying offense at the expense of rock-ribbed defense. There is nothing wrong with trying to eliminate those kinds of injuries, but the enforcement of "the infraction" in real time during a regular season or playoff game doesn't inspire a lot of confide

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More tragedy for the Steelers

PITTSBURGH -- Some were accidental, some were tragic and others were inexplicable.

For some reason, former Pittsburgh Steelers players keep dying at an alarming rate, one that appears to be far higher than that for other NFL teams.

Former star defensive lineman Ernie Holmes’ death in an auto accident Thursday night in Texas was at least the 34th death of a former Steelers player since , with 16 of them age 59 or younger, as was Holmes.

Several of those who died are known to have used steroids, including former offensive guard Steve Courson -- the first NFL player to reveal he used them. He died by accident in November following years of heart problems. Several others were long rumored to have used steroids, although there has been no definitive proof they did.

Of those Steelers deaths, eight were in their 50s, fem were in their 40s and two were in their 30s.

As with all NFL teams that joined the league in its early days -- the Steelers concluded

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Husky Great Mansfield Dies In Grand Canyon -- Former UW, Pittsburgh Steeler Lineman, 55, Collapses During Hiking Trip

That Ray Mansfield would head off for a four-day hike in the Grand Canyon, even in the middle of football season, was no surprise to those who knew him.

The former University of Washington and Pittsburgh Steeler lineman was nicknamed "Ranger" for his love of the outdoors. That's where he died Saturday.

The body of the year-old was flown out of the canyon by helicopter yesterday, and the Coconino County (Ariz.) medical examiner was to conduct an autopsy, a Park Service spokeswoman said. With Mansfield's family history of cardiac illness and no signs of trauma, the Park Service preliminarily said he died of natural causes.

Mansfield played on two Super Bowl teams for the Steelers and three seasons for the University of Washington in the early s.

"He was an adventurer," said former Steeler defensive lineman John Banaszak, who once joined Mansfield in a climb up Col