Kevin Baugh, 42, a former Penn State football player who electrified fans as a kick returner, was beaten to death with a tire iron Sunday after a dispute near his home in Chicopee, Mass. The killing appeared to be drug-related, police told The Associated Press. Baugh, police said, was known around town as a "small-time drug dealer."

Three men and one juvenile were arrested for the slaying, police said. Two charged with the crime are sons of a former area city official, Alderman Stanley Iwanicki.

Baugh played at Penn State from 1980-83, playing as a wideout and returner on the Lions' 1982 national championship team and later earning a tryout with the NFL's Houston Oilers.

Several of those close to Baugh during his time at Penn State said they'd lost touch with him in recent years.

"Everybody kind of knew he was having a rough time," said former Penn State assistant coach Fran Ganter, who recruited Baugh from Deer Park High School in Long Island.

"The last time we saw him, he had a little boy with him -- his son -- and we talked to him about working as a counselor here. He felt, with all that he'd gone through, like, he could be a real help to our players. And then we talked to him a little later, and it sounded like he'd gotten hooked up with a coaching job in California. That was about five years ago. And I don't think anybody here heard from him after that."

Ganter described Baugh as an overachiever -- he stood only 5 feet 8 and had a round physique -- with a warm personality. In high school, he excelled at baseball, basketball and football.

At Deer Park, Baugh won the Hansen Award, given annually to the county's top football player. That athletic ability led him to Penn State, where, for four consecutive seasons, he led the team in punt returning.

"He also played wide receiver," Ganter said, "but anytime I picture him, he's back there returning kicks and punts. When he got the ball, everybody held their breath."

"He was the best punt returner I've ever seen," former teammate and current Duquesne football coach Greg Gattuso said.

The Oilers selected Baugh in the eighth round of the 1984 NFL Draft, but Baugh, hampered by a knee injury, never made the team. His failure as a pro, Ganter said, was something Baugh struggled to handle.

"But I'll always think back to his eyes, because they were so great and big," Ganter said. "And every time he got the football, they grew even bigger."