Jan. 5 -- Rod Dedeaux, 91, coached Southern California to a record 11 NCAA baseball championships. Dedeaux had a 1,332-571-11 record over 45 years with the Trojans before retiring in 1986.

Jan. 9 -- Jack Snow, 62, star wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams and a longtime team broadcaster. He spent 11 years as a player with the Rams, retiring in 1975.

Jan. 10 -- Dave Brown, 52, former defensive back who played 16 seasons in the NFL. Brown finished his career with 62 interceptions and won a Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1976.

Jan. 11 -- Eric Namesnik, 35, winner of silver medals in swimming for the U.S. at the 1992 and '96 Olympics. Namesnik won the medals in the 400-meter individual medley and was ranked No. 1 in the world in 1991 and '93.

Feb. 3 -- John Vaught, 96, led Mississippi to six Southeastern Conference titles and 18 postseason bowl appearances in 25 seasons as football coach. Vaught went 190-61-12 from 1947-1970 at Ole Miss and served as athletic director for four years.

Feb. 16 -- Ernie Stautner, 80, Hall of Fame defensive lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers and a longtime Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator from 1973-88. Stautner went to nine Pro Bowls with the Steelers.

Feb. 20 -- Curt Gowdy, 86, broadcaster of 13 World Series, 16 All-Star baseball games, numerous Rose Bowls and the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Gowdy spent 15 years as the Boston Red Sox main play-by-play announcer from 1951-1965. He left the Red Sox for a 10-year stint as the baseball broadcaster on NBC's "Game of the Week" through 1975. Gowdy also was host of the "American Sportsman" series on ABC from the early 1960s into the 1980s.

March 6 -- Kirby Puckett, 45, Hall of Fame outfielder. Puckett carried the Twins to World Series titles in 1987 and 1991 before his career was cut short by glaucoma.

March 11 -- Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, 75, hockey Hall of Famer credited with inventing the slap shot. Geoffrion was a scoring star on Canadiens teams that won a record five straight Stanley Cups from 1956-60.

March 17 -- Ray Meyer, 92, the grandfatherly basketball coach whose 42-year tenure at DePaul stretched from George Mikan to Mark Aguirre. Meyer twice took the Blue Demons to the NCAA Final Four and coached DePaul to the 1945 NIT title.

April 3 -- Marshall Goldberg, 88, All-America running back at the University of Pittsburgh and key contributor to the Chicago Cardinals' 1947 NFL championship.

April 6 -- Maggie Dixon, 28, Army women's basketball coach who led the Black Knights to their NCAA tournament debut in 2006.

April 7 -- Jim Clack, 58, guard who helped the Pittsburgh Steelers win Super Bowls following the 1974 and 1975 seasons. He played in 146 NFL games between 1971 and 1981.

May 11 -- Floyd Patterson, 71, first boxer to regain the heavyweight title. In 1956, the undersized heavyweight became, at age 21, the youngest man to win the title. Three years later, Patterson was knocked down seven times in the third round in losing the title to Ingemar Johansson. Patterson knocked out Johansson in 1960 with a tremendous left hook to retake the title. The 1952 Olympic middleweight champion finished 55-8-1 with 40 knockouts as a professional.

May 27 -- Craig "Ironhead" Heyward, 39, former NFL fullback. Heyward, the former University of Pittsburgh All-American, spent 11 seasons in the NFL with five teams.

May 29 -- Steve Mizerak, 61, winner of multiple pool championships who became one of the game's more recognizable figures by appearing in training videos, beer commercials and a movie.

June 5 -- Eric Gregg, 55, former major league umpire, known for his big personality, extra-wide strike zone and oversized frame.

June 21 -- Theo Bell, 52, former NFL receiver who was with Pittsburgh when the Steelers won the Super Bowl in 1978 and 1979 before finishing his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

June 29 -- Randy Walker, 52, Northwestern University football coach. Walker was the first Northwestern coach to lead the school to three bowl games. Walker's Wildcats posted 37 wins, going 7-5 last season.

Aug. 5 -- Susan Butcher, 51, four-time Iditarod champion. Butcher dominated the 1,100-mile sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome in the late 1980s. In 1986, she became the second woman to win the grueling race.

Sept. 2 -- Bob Mathias, 75, two-time Olympic champion in the decathlon and former U.S. congressman. Mathias became the youngest Olympic gold medalist in a track and field event in 1948 in London, when he won the decathlon at 17. At the 1952 Games in Helsinki, Finland, he became the first athlete to repeat as Olympic champion in the decathlon.

Sept. 10 -- Patty Berg, 88, a golf pioneer who won an LPGA Tour-record 15 major titles and was one of the 13 founding members of the tour in 1950. She was the LPGA Tour's first president from 1950-52 and the tour's money leader in 1954, '55 and '57.

Sept. 18 -- Syd Thrift, 77, former general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates who spent nearly a half century in baseball.

Sept. 26 -- Byron Nelson, 94, Hall of Fame golfer who had the greatest year in the history of professional golf when he won 18 tournaments in 1945, including a record 11 in a row. Known as Lord Byron for his elegant swing and gentle manner, Nelson won 31 of 54 tournaments in 1944-45. Nelson retired at age 34.

Oct. 6 -- Buck O'Neil, 94, goodwill ambassador for the Negro Leagues who fell one vote shy of the Hall of Fame. O'Neal starred in the Negro Leagues and later became the first black coach in the majors with the 1962 Chicago Cubs.

Oct. 27 -- Joe Niekro, 61, former major league pitcher and Houston's career victory leader. The two-time 20-game winner finished 221-204 with a 3.59 ERA, including a franchise-best 144 games in 11 seasons with the Astros from 1975 to 1985.

Oct. 27 -- Trevor Berbick, 52, former heavyweight champion. Berbick lost his heavyweight title to Mike Tyson and was the last boxer to fight Muhammad Ali. After beating Ali in 1981, Berbick went on to win the WBC heavyweight title four years later in a decision over Pinklon Thomas. Berbick's reign was short, however, as a 20-year-old Tyson knocked Berbick out in the second round on Nov. 22, 1986, to become the youngest heavyweight champion.

Oct. 28 -- Red Auerbach, 89, Hall of Fame coach who led the Boston Celtics to nine NBA championships in the 1950s and 1960s. Auerbach won 938 games with the Celtics and was the winningest coach in NBA history until Lenny Wilkens overtook him in the 1994-95 season.

Nov. 17 -- Bo Schembechler, 77, seven-time Big Ten football coach of the year who compiled a 194-48-5 record at Michigan from 1969-89. Schembechler's record in 26 years of coaching was 234-65-8.

Nov. 23 -- Willie Pep, 84, Hall of Fame boxer and one of the best fighters of the 20th century. The 5-foot, 6-inch Pep was 229-11 during a career that spanned 26 years. Pep won 53 consecutive fights before trumping Chalky Wright in 1942 for the world featherweight title. The following year brought 63 undefeated bouts for Pep before he lost a non-title fight to Sammy Angott. Undeterred, Pep went on to win another 73 straight.

Dec. 13 -- Lamar Hunt, 74, owner of the Kansas City Chiefs who came up with the term "Super Bowl." Hunt was a founder of the American Football League and one of the driving forces behind the AFL-NFL merger. In 1972, Hunt became the first AFL figure to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and each year the Lamar Hunt Trophy goes to the AFC winner.