Sports

More Professional Athletes From Regional Franchises Who Died In 2024

A listing of deaths in 2024 of former football, basketball and hockey players connected to Boston, Hartford or New York pro teams.

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Dikembe Mutombo, shown signing an autograph for a young fan at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony of 2014, was one of two former New York Knicks players who passed away in the past year.
Dikembe Mutombo, shown signing an autograph for a young fan at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony of 2014, was one of two former New York Knicks players who passed away in the past year. (Tim Jensen/Patch)

CONNECTICUT - Yesterday we featured a story listing over 100 former Major League Baseball players who died in 2024, all with ties to Connecticut or who played for the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees or New York Mets. Following publication, several readers inquired if we had similar information for the regional pro teams in football, basketball and hockey.

Voila!

There were 16 former NFL players from the Giants, Jets and Patriots who passed away during the year. A dozen hockey alumni of the Bruins, Whalers, Rangers and Islanders are no longer with us, and three ex-Knicks or Celtics, including a pair of Hall of Famers, are now departed.

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Here are the former players who died from the regional clubs. They are arranged in chronological order by date of death, and include the player's age in parentheses.

FOOTBALL

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New York Giants (8)

  • Bob Gaiters, Jan. 5 (85)
  • Wendell Harris, Jan. 7 (83)
  • Norm Snead, Jan. 14 (84)
  • Roger Davis. March 6 (85)
  • Korey Cunningham, Apr. 25 (28)
  • Aaron Thomas, Apr. 26 (86)
  • Greg Larson, June 20 (84)
  • Charlie Evans, Nov. 4 (76)

New York Jets (5)

  • Rich Caster, Feb. 2 (75)
  • Bob Avellini, May 4 (70)
  • Abner Haynes, July 18 (86)
  • Kevin Long, Sept. 10 (69)
  • Abdul Salaam, Oct. 8 (71)

New England Patriots (4)

  • Eric Sievers, Apr. 10 (66)
  • Korey Cunningham, Apr. 25 (28)
  • Claude King, Aug. 16 (85)
  • Ed Khayat, Dec. 6 (89)

HOCKEY

Boston Bruins (8)

  • Blaine Lacher, Jan. 29 (53)
  • Dave Forbes, Mar. 25 (75)
  • Ed Chadwick, Apr. 23 (90)
  • Billy Carter, June 25 (86)
  • Murray Costello, July 27 (90)
  • John Henderson, Oct. 4 (91)
  • Moe Lemay, Oct. 18 (62)
  • Al Simmons, Oct. 28 (73)

New York Rangers (3)

  • Chris Simon, Mar. 18 (52)
  • Don Marshall, Oct. 8 (92)
  • Pete Conacher, Oct. 20 (92)

New York Islanders (1)

  • Chris Simon, Mar. 18 (52)

New England Whalers (1)

  • Ron Busnieuk, Mar. 8 (75)

BASKETBALL

New York Knicks (2)

  • Dikembe Mutombo, Sept. 30 (58)
  • Dick Van Arsdale, Dec. 16 (81)

Boston Celtics (1)

  • Bill Walton, May 27 (71)

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