PRO FOOTBALL

Former Bears safety Roosevelt Taylor dies

Roosevelt Taylor, a star safety on the Chicago Bears’ 1963 NFL championship team, has died. He was 82.

The team said he died Friday but did not provide details.

An All-Pro in 1963 when the Bears won the title, Taylor played his first nine NFL seasons with Chicago, 1961-69, appearing in every game. A ballhawk, he led the league in interceptions in 1963 with nine, also making the Pro Bowl.

Chicago was 11-1-2 in that championship season, winning all eight games in which Mr. Taylor made an interception.

He also made the Pro Bowl in 1968. The next year, he was dealt to San Francisco for guard Howard Mudd and spent 2½ seasons with the 49ers, then was Washington’s free safety in 1972. The Redskins lost to Miami in the Super Bowl that season, with the Dolphins finishing off their perfect record.

In all, Taylor had 32 interceptions, 23 with the Bears.

Former Broncos star Floyd Little has cancer

Pro Football Hall of Famer Floyd Little, who starred in the NFL for the Denver Broncos, has been diagnosed with cancer, according to a former Syracuse Orange teammate who has set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for treatment costs.

Pat Killorin, a center for Syracuse in the mid-1960s, created the fundraiser last Sunday.

“Floyd was recently diagnosed with a treatable but aggressive form of cancer. No doubt it will be the toughest fight of his life,” Killorin wrote on the Friends of Floyd page.

Little, a three-time All-American at Syracuse from 1964 to 1966, was selected sixth overall in the 1967 combined AFL-NFL draft by the Broncos. He spent his entire nine-year career with the franchise and rushed for 6,323 yards and 43 touchdowns.

Little, 77, led the NFL in rushing yards (1,133) and yards from scrimmage (1,388) in 1971. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.

TRACK AND FIELD

Sprinting great Bobby Joe Morrow dies

Bobby Joe Morrow, the Texas sprinter who won three gold medals in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics while a student at Abilene Christian University, died Saturday in San Benito, Texas. He was 84.

Mr. Morrow’s family said he died of natural causes at home in San Benito.

Mr. Morrow won the 100 and 200 meters in Melbourne and anchored the United States’ champion 400 relay team, matching the world record of 20.6 seconds in the 200 and helping the relay squad set a world record.

Earlier in 1956, he successfully defended his AAU 100-yard title and swept the sprints for Abilene Christian at the national college championships. He won the AAU’s James E. Sullivan Award the following year.

Mr. Morrow was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1989.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Nembhard to transfer from Florida

Florida point guard Andrew Nembhard is removing his name from the NBA draft and returning to school — just not in Gainesville.

A team spokesman said Saturday that Nembhard plans to transfer and will have two years of college eligibility remaining. Stadium first reported Nembhard’s intentions.

Nembhard entered the NBA draft last month. He hired NCAA-certified agent Jaafar Choufani so he could retain his college eligibility. He took a similar approach after his freshman year and eventually returned to Florida after not getting invited to the NBA scouting combine.

As a sophomore, he averaged 11.2 points, 5.6 assists and 3 rebounds.

HOCKEY

Pavelich found competent to stand trial

Mark Pavelich, the famed “Miracle on Ice” Olympic hockey player charged with assaulting his North Shore neighbor last fall, has been found competent to stand trial.

Cook County (Minn.) District Judge Michael Cuzzo found this month that, based on a recent examination, Pavelich “presently has sufficient ability to rationally consult with counsel, understand the proceedings and participate in his defense.” That allows the criminal case to proceed, months after Pavelich was civilly committed.

Pavelich, 62, is facing two felony assault charges and two felony weapons charges after allegedly striking a neighbor with a long metal pole and sending him to the hospital with serious injuries after returning to Pavelich’s Lutsen-area home following a day of fishing together in August.

Pavelich had accused his neighbor of “spiking his beer,” and the victim suffered cracked ribs, a bruised kidney and was “in and out of shock” when he was found, charges state.

Pavelich was found incompetent to stand trial on the charges in October.

In December, Pavelich was committed to the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter after being found “mentally ill and dangerous.” The doctor who recommended his commitment said Pavelich may suffer from an “unspecified neurocognitive” affliction. His family has said they suspect CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which may have resulted from repeated blows to the head while playing hockey, including 355 games in the NHL.

CTE — which can only be discovered through an autopsy — often manifests in erratic behavior and has been suspected in the deaths of a number of professional athletes.

TENNIS

Fognini undergoes surgery on ankles

Former top-10 player Fabio Fognini said on social media that he had arthroscopic surgery on both ankles Saturday.

The 2011 French Open quarterfinalist, who reached a career-high No. 9 in the ATP rankings last year, nnounced he would have the operations on Twitter. Fognini said he had trouble with his left ankle for 3½ years. Then he developed a problem with his right ankle during the past two years.

Updated (01/06/2018): TMZ Sports obtained the autopsy report for Glenn’s fatal crash and reported that it showed Glenn had marijuana in his system and his blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit. Toxicology tests reveal he was impaired with a .165 BAC. Police also found a marijuana grinder and bottle in the crash wreckage. Glenn’s cause of death is listed as an “accident” due to blunt force trauma.

ORIGINAL STORY (11/20/2017)

Updated at 7:45 p.m. to include more details about Glenn’s background.

Former Cowboys receiver Terry Glenn died early Monday after a car crash in Irving.

Glenn was driving on State Highway 114 with a woman when he veered out of his lane and struck a concrete barrier dividing the toll lane and main lanes, Irving police said.

Glenn, 43, was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he died about 12 a.m.

 Multiple news outlets identified his passenger as his fiancee. Police said she had minor injuries.

“Terry was someone that we all enjoyed very much in his time with the Cowboys,” team owner Jerry Jones said in a statement. “He was a gentle and kind hearted young man. We are all terribly saddened by this news of his passing. Too young and too soon. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, his loved ones and all of the people who were touched by his life.”

Police were still investigating Monday afternoon what led to the crash.

Glenn had a lengthy history of encounters with authorities, records show.

In 2009, he was arrested on charges of marijuana possession and public intoxication. In 2015, he was cited for driving 78 mph on a 60 mph road, court records show.

More recently, he was on deferred adjudication for a misdemeanor charge of accident involving damage in Denton County. The incident occurred in October 2016. He was arrested in March and was given deferred adjudication after pleading no contest last month, records show.

Also last month, authorities filed a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated charged against Glenn — his second such charge in Denton County, according to court records. His arraignment hearing was scheduled for Monday.

Former Cowboys player Tony Casillas was among the first to spread the news of Glenn’s death Monday morning, tweeting about it and asking for prayers for Glenn’s fiancee.

Glenn played 12 seasons in the NFL and caught 593 passes for 8,823 yards and 44 touchdowns. He spent his first six seasons with the Patriots, going to the Pro Bowl in 1999. He caught Tom Brady’s first career touchdown pass in 2001.

Glenn played in 2002 for the Packers, who traded him to Dallas before the 2003 season.

Glenn played for the Cowboys from 2003 to 2007. He had back-to-back seasons with more than 1,000 yards receiving in 2005 and 2006 after being reunited with former Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe, who played his final two seasons for Dallas.

“Loved this man,” Bledsoe tweeted Monday after learning of Glenn’s death. “My son asked me a decade ago who my favorite receiver ever was because he wanted that jersey for Christmas. He got a Terry Glenn jersey from Santa. TG overcame horrible adversity to become a really good man. May your soul rest in peace, my friend.”

Glenn missed the first 15 games of the 2007 season because of arthroscopic knee surgery during the preseason. The Cowboys released Glenn in July 2008 because of health concerns over his right knee.

Glenn persevered as a teenager growing up in Columbus, Ohio. At 13, according to a  Chicago Tribune story, Glenn was told his mother, Donetta, had been beaten to death at 29 years old by a man who had abducted her. That left Glenn and his younger sister, Dorothy, without a parent. Glenn bounced from home to home after his mother’s death. He eventually joined Ohio State’s football team as a walk-on in 1993.

Glenn was a raw talent — he didn’t play organized football until his sophomore year of high school — and only caught 15 passes his first two seasons at Ohio State. But things changed in 1995. Glenn caught 64 passes for 1,411 yards and 17 touchdowns for Ohio State, winning the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s best collegiate receiver and being named an All-American.

New England drafted him seventh overall in 1996. Glenn caught 90 passes his first season — more than any rookie in NFL history at the time — for 1,132 yards. He’s one of only four players in the Super Bowl era to catch at least 90 passes for at least 1,100 yards as a rookie.