Sports figures we lost in 2025

WASHINGTON — The world this year said goodbye to many key figures who left a lasting impact on their respective sports. 

From pro wrestlers and MLB players to daredevils and longtime sports anchors, the sports world lost many big names in 2025. 

Brian Matusz, 37. He was a left-handed pitcher who spent eight seasons in the major leagues, mostly with the Baltimore Orioles. Jan. 6. 

Bob Uecker, 90. He parlayed a forgettable playing career into a punch line for movie and TV appearances as “Mr. Baseball” and a Hall of Fame broadcasting tenure. He had broadcast Milwaukee Brewers games for over half a century. Jan. 16.

Dick Button, 95. He was one of the most accomplished men’s figure skaters in history, and one of his sport’s great innovators and promoters. Jan. 30.

Kultida Woods, 80. Tiger Woods credited his Thai-born mother with instilling his dominant spirit and encouraging him to wear red shirts on Sundays as his power color. Feb. 4.

Mabel Staton, 92. The Black track and field standout broke through barriers as the only woman to compete for the United States in the long jump at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Feb. 20.

Joe Fusco, 87. A College Football Hall of Fame coach, he won four NAIA Division II national championships in 19 years at Westminster College. Feb. 22.

Boris Spassky, 88. A Soviet-era world chess champion, he lost his title to American Bobby Fischer in a legendary 1972 match that became a proxy for Cold War rivalries. Feb. 27.

Junior Bridgeman, 71. A basketball standout who led Louisville to a Final Four, he starred for the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks and then launched an even more successful career as a business owner with stakes in restaurants, publishing and the Bucks franchise. March 11.

John Feinstein, 69. He was a best-selling author and sports columnist at the Washington Post. He covered a variety of sports over his decades-long career and became a familiar commentator on NPR, ESPN and other radio programs. March 13.  

Eddie Jordan, 76. He was a Formula 1 team owner and media personality whose humor, strong opinions and often extravagant dress sense made him a popular TV pundit after selling the team. March 20.

George Foreman, 76. The fearsome heavyweight boxer lost the “Rumble in the Jungle” to Muhammad Ali before his inspiring second and third acts as a 45-year-old world champion and a successful business owner. March 21.

Octavio Dotel, 51. He pitched for 13 major league teams in a 15-year career and won a World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals, and died in the same roof collapse in the Dominican Republic. April 8.

Aaron Boupendza, 28. He was a striker for the Gabonese soccer federation men’s national team. He died after falling from the 11th floor of a building in China. April 17. 

Mike Patrick, 80. He was ESPN’s first play-by-play announcer for its NFL coverage. Patrick joined ESPN in 1982, and was with the network for 35 years. April 22. 

Steve McMichael, 67. A star defensive tackle on the Chicago Bears’ 1985 Super Bowl championship team whose larger-than-life personality later made him a natural for professional wrestling as “Ming the Merciless,” he died after battling ALS. April 23.

Dick Barnett, 88. A basketball Hall of Famer, he played on both New York Knicks NBA championship teams after being part of a historic college powerhouse at Tennessee A&I. April 27.

Terry Brunk, 60. Professional wrestling star “Sabu” was the nephew of WWE Hall of Famer “The Sheik.” The 60-year-old was known for his hardcore wrestling style and became a rising star wrestling for the Extreme Championship Wrestling. May 11. 

John Brenkus, 54. He rose to prominence as the host of “Sport Science,” a show that explored the intersection of athletics and technology and physics. May 31. 

Shigeo Nagashima, 89. He was known in Japan as “Mr. Pro Baseball,” one of the most famous people in the country during his playing days. June 3.

Jim Marshall, 87. The former Minnesota Vikings defensive end was one of four members of the famed Purple People Eaters, the backbone of four Super Bowl teams. June 3.

Nina Kuscsik, 86. She campaigned for women’s inclusion in long-distance running and then won the Boston Marathon the first year women were officially allowed to run. June 8.

D. Wayne Lukas, 89. The Hall of Famer became one of horse racing’s most accomplished trainers and a face of the sport for decades. June 28.

Aidan Zingg, 16. The rising motocross star, has died following a mid-race crash. The teenager had recently signed with Team Green Kawasaki for the remainder of the 2025 season. June 28. 

Alex Delvecchio, 93. A member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, he helped the Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley Cup three times in the 1950s. July 1.

Diogo Jota, 28. The Liverpool player Diogo Jota and his brother, a Portuguese soccer player, were killed in a car accident in Spain. July 3.

Fauja Singh, 114. An Indian-born runner nicknamed the Turbaned Torpedo, believed to be the world’s oldest marathoner, died after being hit by a car. July 14.

Felix Baumgartner, 56. The extreme athlete stunned the world in 2012 by skydiving faster than the speed of sound during a 24-mile (39-kilometer) leap from the stratosphere. He died in a paragliding crash. July 17.

Rex White, 95. He was NASCAR’s oldest living champion and a 2015 inductee into its Hall of Fame. July 18.

Joey Jones, 70. The Welsh soccer hero won two European Cups with Liverpool and was dubbed “Mr. Wrexham.” July 22.

Hulk Hogan, 71. The mustachioed, headscarf-wearing, bicep-busting icon of professional wrestling turned the sport into a massive business and stretched his influence into TV, pop culture and conservative politics during a long and scandal-plagued second act. July 24.

Dwight Muhammad Qawi, 72. The Hall of Fame fighter took up boxing in prison and became a two-weight world champion. July 25.

Ryne Sandberg, 65. The Hall of Fame second baseman became one of baseball’s best all-around players while starring for the Chicago Cubs. July 28.

Humpy Wheeler, 86. He was a pioneering motorsports promoter as president and general manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway. Aug. 20.

Ron Turcotte, 84. The Hall of Fame jockey rode Secretariat to the Triple Crown in 1973. Aug. 22.

Ricky Hatton, 46. The former boxing world champion who rose to become one of the most popular fighters in the sport had mental health struggles and was found dead due to hanging. Sept. 14.

Bernie Parent, 80. Considered one of the greatest hockey goalies, the Hall of Famer anchored the net for the Philadelphia Flyers’ two Stanley Cup championships in the 1970s. Sept. 21.

Nancy Leonard, 93. She was considered the matriarch of the Indiana Pacers and served as assistant general manager from 1976 to 1980 alongside husband and former coach and GM Bobby “Slick” Leonard. Sept. 24

Kanchha Sherpa, 92. The Nepalese mountain guide was last surviving member of the expedition team that first conquered Mount Everest. Oct. 16.

Daniel Naroditsky, 29. The chess grandmaster who started as a child prodigy quickly became one of the most influential American voices in the sport. His cause of death was not made public. Oct. 20.

Nick Mangold, 41. As a New York Jets center he was one of the franchise’s greatest players, twice helping lead the team to the AFC championship game. He died of complications of kidney disease. Oct. 25.

Paul Tagliabue, 84. He helped bring labor peace and riches to the NFL during his 17 years as commissioner but was criticized for not taking stronger action on concussions. Nov. 9.

Fuzzy Zoeller, 74. One of golf’s most gregarious characters, the two-time major champion’s career was tainted by a racially insensitive joke about Tiger Woods. Nov. 27.

Elden Campbell, 57. He was a center who played 15 seasons in the NBA — including nine with the Los Angeles Lakers — and later won a championship with the Detroit Pistons. Dec. 3. 

Roy Kramer, 96. He was the onetime football coach who became an athletic director at Vanderbilt, then, eventually, commissioner of the Southeastern Conference where he set the template for the multibillion-dollar business college sports would become. Dec. 5. 

Michael Annett, 39. He was a former racecar driver who made 436 combined starts in NASCAR’s three national touring series. Dec. 6. 

John Kelly “Dixie” Deans, 79. He was a high-scoring forward for Scottish clubs Celtic and Motherwell in the 1960s and 70s. Dec. 9. 

Greg Biffle, 55. He was a former NASCAR driver best known for his success across multiple national series Dec. 18. Plane crash. 

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