Athletes hold a special place in many lives, but for the most part, we never actually get
to know them for real.
Learning that inspiring athletic heroes have died and left their playing fields for good
can come as a real shock.
Here are a few of the best athletes you maybe didn't know we lost.
Roy Halladay was 36 years old when he announced his retirement from professional baseball.
He left the game for health reasons, citing a back injury, but never gave up his love
for the sport.
Shortly after his retirement he returned to the Phillies as a guest instructor and took
on the same role for the Toronto Blue Jays.
And what an instructor he was - he was a two-time Cy Young Award winner who had pitched
not one but two no-hitters in the same season.
That incredible feat took place in 2010, and Halladay was the first pitcher to manage it
since Nolan Ryan back in 1973.
The second of his no-hitters happened in the playoffs, making him the first pitcher ever
to throw a no-no in the regular and post-season in the same year.
- And the regular season one was a perfect game!
On November 7, 2017, Halladay was flying a small, single-engine aircraft over the Gulf
of Mexico.
The plane went down off the coast of Florida around noon, and Halladay tragically did not
survive.
To honor Halladay's memory, the Phillies suspended his number for the 2018 season, while the
Blue Jays retired it completely.
Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson died at the age of 26 on February 4, 2018, being struck
by a drunk driver on Super Bowl Sunday.
Jackson had played with the Indianapolis Colts since 2015.
Even though his football career was still young, he was exceptionally proud of it, and
used his notoriety to help give back to his community.
He started the Edwin Jackson 53 Foundation, an organization which held clinics, fitness
camps, and after-school programs for disadvantaged youth.
To get an idea of what kind of man Jackson was, you just need to know how he got the
nickname "Pound Cake."
According to the story, Jackson was set to meet with the Arizona Cardinals in 2015 before
he missed a scheduled flight.
In order to try to make up for ruining everyone's schedule, he brought his mom's pound cake
for the entire defensive staff — a charming, classy move from a good man gone too soon.
Carol Mann was a golfer who won a staggering 38 times on the LPGA tour, including two major
championships.
Mann- who stood a towering 6 foot 3 - turned pro in late 1960, and also served as the LPGA
president from 1973 to 1976, and later taught golf.
She could also be heard as a golf analyst for major networks.
On May 20, 2018, Mann passed away at her home in Texas at the age of 77.
The Hall of Fame golfer's legacy lives on with the Carol Mann Scholarship Fund that
awards golf scholarships to new generations of promising female golfers.
If you were compiling a list of the best tennis players in history, you'd have to include
Jana Novotna.
In her 14-year professional career, she won 24 singles titles, was a 12-time Doubles Grand
Slam winner and, in 1998, a Wimbledon champion.
She also won a silver medal at the 1988 Olympics, as well as a second silver and a bronze in
1996.
By any metric, she's one of the greatest players of all time, earning exactly 100 titles to
her name over the course of her underrated career.
Novotna was diagnosed with cancer in 2015 but kept the news private, having retired
from the pro circuit in 1999.
Novotna spent her final years at home with loved ones.
She died at age 49 on November 19, 2017 near her home in the Czech Republic.
If you were a wrestling fan in the 1980s, you probably remember George Steele pretty
fondly.
His character was so bizarre and over-the-top it was hard not to smile at the sight of him.
Steele would come to the ring with his tongue painted green and literally chew the padding
off the turnbuckles.
His nickname was "The Animal," and he lived up to it every night he performed.
Steele, whose real name was William James Myers, spent more than 20 years in the ring.
His Animal character barely spoke at all, mostly grunting instead.
This was in stark contrast to the real-life Myers, a devout Christian with a master's
degree who was once a teacher.
Myers retired from wrestling in 1988 after being diagnosed with Crohn's disease.
After a long battle with kidney disease, he died at age 79 on February 16, 2017.
Arnold Palmer is the only figure on this list popular enough to have a drink named after
him.
His namesake beverage, a combination of lemonade and iced tea, is pretty good, too perfectly
refreshing after a long day on the golf course.
Palmer won seven major championships and 62 PGA Tour titles during his career, and is
commonly credited as being among the most important figures in the history of golf.
Before Arnold Palmer, golf was often dismissed by average people as a game only for the elite.
While that reputation has persisted somewhat, the acceptance and popularity of the game
exploded since Palmer became a star in the 1950s, with Palmer's charm and likeability
helping to make the game more accessible and enjoyable for viewers.
Arnold Palmer passed away while awaiting heart surgery on September 25, 2016, dying just
after his 87th birthday.
Few athletes ever put as much into the game of hockey as Gordie Howe did.
His career spanned five decades, from 1946 to 1980.
That kind of longevity is usually unheard of.
He played 1,767 games in the NHL - and also had 6 seasons in the World Hockey Association
- playing alongside his sons Mark and Marty and then finished his career back in the NHL
with The Hartford Whalers at age 52!
As of October 2018, he still holds the record for most games played and most games played
with the same team.
In short, there's a reason why they called him "Mr. Hockey."
Among Howe's many accomplishments was the infamous "Gordie Howe Hat Trick," which a
player can earn by pulling off a goal, an assist, and a fight all in one game.
Howe himself only did it twice, but he had a reputation as one of the toughest guys on
the ice.
In 11 of his 26 seasons in the NHL he racked up more minutes in the penalty box than he
did goals.
While Howe was quick to throw down on the ice, he was just as quick to apologize to
anyone he injured as well.
Near the end of his life, Howe suffered dementia for several years, as well as other health
issues.
He died on June 10, 2016, at the age of 88.
Kimbo Slice, born Kevin Ferguson, exploded onto the fight scene in the early 2000s in
the most unusual way imaginable.
Slice was the star of numerous viral videos that depicted him in unsanctioned backyard
fights where his power and ferocity made him a star.
He was a man who looked like he could take anyone apart with his bare hands.
Critics would often come down hard on Slice, slamming his lack of skill and his reputation
as a mere brawler.
UFC champ Frank Mir once said that every time Slice fought, it set the entire sport back.
Despite the criticisms, fans absolutely loved Slice.
His appearance at Bellator 149 pulled in a record-setting 2.5 million viewers, proving
his value as a fan favorite in the sport.
Slice was scheduled to meet James Thompson at Bellator 158 on July 16, 2016, in what
was meant to be a rematch of a controversial fight in 2008.
But it wasn't meant to be — Slice passed away on June 6, 2016 at the age of 42.
If you're a basketball fan and you don't know Hal Greer, you should probably get familiar.
Greer was an absolute powerhouse on the court who spent 15 years with the Philadelphia 76ers,
including five seasons when the team was still in Syracuse.
To this day, Greer remains the team's career leader in field goals, field goal attempts,
games, and minutes played.
He retired from professional basketball with 21,586 points, another 76ers record.
During his time in with the 76ers, Greer made 10 straight NBA All-Star games, and had the
honor of being the first player in team history to have his number retired.
On April 14, 2018, Hal Greer passed away at the age of 81.
If you've been a WWE fan for awhile, you probably know the name Bruno Sammartino.
He's practically a legend in the wrestling world, with exploits in the squared circle
that go back to way before the WWE made wrestling the phenomenon it is today.
As a wrestler, he sold out Madison Square Garden 187 times — to even imagine anyone
doing something like that these days is mind-blowing.
Sammartino was a major presence in the WWE during its early years, though he would later
go on to be critical of the company.
Despite this, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
Health problems plagued the superstar in his later years; after a two-month hospital stay,
Sammartino passed away from multiple organ failure in April 2018 at the age of 82.
It was hard not to be a fan of outfielder Oscar Gamble.
He belted out 200 career home runs, but let’s be real: you know him as the man who managed
to play professional baseball with one of the flyest afros ever to get wedged under
a helmet..
Gamble played on seven different teams during his MLB run in the '70s and '80s, including
the New York Yankees, the Chicago White Sox, and the Texas Rangers.
By the time he wrapped up his final season in Chicago in 1985, he would be remembered
as a pretty scrappy baseball player… okay, who are we kidding?
Everyone remembers him for that awesome fro!
Near the end of his life, Gamble developed a rare cancer of the jaw, and lived with the
tumor for several years.
He died in Birmingham, Alabama at age 68 on January 31, 2018.
Dave Mirra, an iconic figure in the world of BMX, helped legitimize the X-Games in the
1990s and was one of its early star athletes.
He has the second-most medals in X-Games history, including 14 golds.
After he retired from BMX in 2011, he moved onto Rallycross and finished fourth in the
Global Rallycross Championship in 2013.
Mirra was so popular he had his own video game series: Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX.
On February 4, 2016, Dave Mirra's body was found inside his truck in Greenville, North
Carolina.
He had committed suicide at the age of 41, leaving behind a wife and two children.
An autopsy revealed that Mirra suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.
That's the same condition most often associated with football players who have endured numerous
concussions.
Like them, Mirra had suffered severe head trauma on many occasions as part of his sport.
Mirra's wife Lauren told ESPN that she had noticed personality changes in him during
the final year of his life.
After his death, Mirra was inducted into the National BMX Hall of Fame, and the X-Games
honored him by introducing a new event: the Dave Mirra BMX Park Best Trick competition.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call or chat online with
the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).