Notable Last Survivors -- 2021 Sports Other Than Baseball Division

Charley Trippi of the 1947 NFL Champion Chicago Cardinals

Notable last survivors of occurrences in sports other than baseball:

* June 4, 1939: Reginald Welch, 87, the last survivor of the winners of the 1st FA Cup Final, the 1872 Wanderers. He was also the last surviving player from the England team that played Scotland to a 0-0 draw in the 1st international football (soccer) match, the same year. 67 years.

* August 15, 1939: George H. Large, 88, the last surviving player in the 1st American football game, New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey, November 6, 1869. Nearly 70 years. The native of Readington, Hunterdon County played on the Rutgers side, and in 1888 served as President of the State Senate, making him the Acting Governor on a few occasions.

* May 24, 1942: Billy MacKinnon, 90, the last surviving player in the 1st international football match, at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, Scotland, November 30, 1872. 70 years. He and all of his Scotland teammates played their "club football" for Queen's Park of Glasgow.

* August 6, 1943: Tom Garrett, 85, the last surviving player from the 1st official cricket test match, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on March 15, 1877. 66 years. He was a bowler, and remains the youngest Australian to play in a senior cricket match against England. Australia, which would not achieve independence for another 24 years, defeated England 245-196. Garrett is the great-grandfather of Peter Garrett, lead singer of Australian rock band Midnight Oil.

* July 14, 1951: Sammy Jones, 89, the last surviving player from the Australia cricket team that beat England in what became known as the 1st "Ashes" competition, August 29, 1882. 69 years.

* September 26, 1951: H. Montagu Allan, 90, the last surviving original inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, in 1945. 6 years. He was the only original inductee who was alive at all. A major businessman in Montreal, in the early 20th Century, he was not a player. Instead, he was elected in the "Builders" category, for his donation of the Allan Cup, awarded annually to the national senior amateur champions of Canada.

* November 17, 1955: Bob Holmes, 88, the last surviving player from the 1st Champions of England's Football League, the 1888-89 Preston North End team. 66 years.

* May 15, 1961: Tommy Gorman, 74, the last surviving original owner in the NHL, owner and general manager of the Ottawa Senators in 1917. 44 years. He managed the Senators to the Stanley Cup in 1920, '21 and '23; the Chicago Blackhawks in 1934; the Montreal Maroons in 1935; and the Montreal Canadiens in 1944 and '46.

* February 14, 1963: Billy Barlow, 92, the last surviving player from the 1st Stanley Cup winners, the 1893 Montreal Amateur Athletic Association team. 70 years.

* March 17, 1965: Amos Alonzo Stagg, 102, the last surviving member of the 1st All-American college football team, 1889, an end at Yale University. 74 years. He became better known as a coach who introduced many of the things football fans now take for granted, including the playbook, the huddle, the center snap, the placekick, the onside kick, the position of linebacker, pads (for players and goalposts), the tackling dummy, uniform numbers and varsity letters.

* January 23, 1967: Holcombe Ward, 88, the last surviving member of the U.S. tennis team that won the 1st Davis Cup, at the Longwood Cricket Club in Boston, August 8-10, 1900. 67 years. Ward also won the U.S. Open in 1904, and was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

The tournament was original known as the International Lawn Tennis Challenge, but was almost immediately nicknamed the Davis Cup, named for Dwight F. Davis, a member of that 1900 U.S. team, who came up with the idea for a U.S. selection to challenge a British team. Soon, the tournament was expanded to other countries. 

* July 1, 1968: Dr. Ernest Hildner, 94, the last surviving player in the 1st basketball game, Springfield, Massachusetts, December 21, 1891. 76 years.

* September 2, 1969: Ray Nesser, 71, the last survivor of the 6 football-playing Nesser brothers from Columbus, Ohio, playing for the Columbus Panhandles in 1915. 54 years.

* February 15, 1970: Dimitrios Loundras, 84, the last surviving competitor in the 1st modern Olympic Games, in Athens, Greece, April 15, 1896. 74 years.

* February 25, 1977: Billy Coutu, 84, the last surviving player from the 1st NHL game, a 7-4 win for Coutu and the Canadiens over the Ottawa Senators in Ottawa on December 22, 2017. 59 years.

* August 22, 1977: Roy Large, 84, the last surviving player from the Carlisle Indian School team, led by Jim Thorpe, that upset the Army football team at West Point, New York, November 9, 1912. 65 years.

* January 21, 1982: Edward S. "Ned" Irish, 76, the last surviving original NBA owner, the founding owner of the New York Knicks, 1946. A little more than 35 years. He also led the building of the current version of Madison Square Garden, opening in 1968.

* October 31, 1983: George Halas, 88, the last surviving original NFL owner from 1920. 63 years. As the founding owner of the Chicago Bears, and (for all intents and purposes) the founder of the NFL, he was the 1st man elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, in 1963.

* July 3, 1984: Ernesto Mascheroni, 76, the last surviving player from the Uruguay team that won the 1st World Cup Final, July 30, 1930. 54 years. He was then a left back for Montevideo team Olimpia, and later played for Internazionale Milano in Italy before coming home and playing for Montevideo team Peñarol.

* January 15, 1986: Jim Crowley, 83, the last survivor of the backfield known as the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, winners of the Rose Bowl, January 1, 1925. 61 years. Harry Stuhldreher died in 1965, Elmer Layden in 1973, and Don Miller in 1979.

* February 22, 1986: Tom Bradshaw, 82, the last surviving player from the Scotland team, the "Wembley Wizards," that upset England at the original Wembley Stadium in London on March 31, 1928. 58 years. At the time, though, he was playing his "club football" for an English team, Liverpool.

* May 11, 1986: Frederick "Fritz" Pollard, 92, the last surviving player from the 1st NFL Champions, the 1920 Akron Pros. 66 years.

* September 6, 1989: Jimmy Ruffell, 89, the last surviving player from the 1st game at the old Wembley Stadium in London, the 1923 FA Cup Final. 66 years. He played for East London team West Ham United, who lost to Manchester area team Bolton Wanderers, 2-0.

* April 17, 1990: Angelo Schiavio, 84, the last surviving player from the Italy team that won the World Cup on June 10, 1934. 56 years. He was a forward, played his entire career for Bologna, and at the time of the World Cup was also their manager.

* January 28, 1991: Harold "Red" Grange, 87, the charter inductee into both the College and the Pro Football Halls of Fame, who was the last survivor of "The Golden Age of Sports," a group of athletes considered the best of the 1920s. 71 to 61 years. Of the others: Baseball's Babe Ruth died in 1948, tennis' Bill Tilden in 1953, golf's Bobby Jones in 1971 (the people coming up with the "Golden Age" nickname considered golf a sport, but I don't), track's Paavo Nurmi in 1973, and boxing's Jack Dempsey in 1983.

* July 18, 1991: Magnus Goodman, 93, the last surviving player from the 1st Olympic Gold Medalists in hockey, the Canada team that won in Antwerp, Belgium in 1920. 71 years.

* October 12, 1996: René Lacoste, 92, the last survivor of the "Four Muskteers" from France who, along with America's Bill Tilden, dominated international tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Their 1st major title was in 1924, 72 years earlier.

Jacques "Toto" Brugnon died in 1978, Henri Cochet died in 1987, and Jean Borotra died in 1994. Lacoste was nicknamed the Crocodile, and it became the emblem of the Lacoste tennis shirt, which he introduced in 1929, expanding it into a vast sporting goods empire.

* May 26, 1997: Ralph Horween, 100, the last surviving player from the NFL's pioneer era, a fullback for the Chicago Cardinals from 1921 to 1923. 74 years. He is also believed to be the 1st former NFL player to live to be 100.

* September 23, 1998: Ray Bowden, 89, the last surviving player for Arsenal under manager Herbert Chapman, who died in 1934. 64 years. Bowden played for Arsenal's League Champions of 1934 and '35, and their 1936 FA Cup winners.

* February 23, 2000: Stanley Matthews, 85, the last surviving player from the England soccer team which, while it did not play in the World Cup, took on its winners, Italy, at the home stadium of Arsenal Football Club in North London, November 14, 1934. 65 years.

At the time, he was an outside right (today, we would call his position "right winger") for Stoke City. He would still be playing in England's top division in 1965, at age 50, and remains the only British footballer ever knighted while still an active player. He was also the last England player in their matches with Germany at White Hart Lane in North London in 1935 and in Berlin in 1938.

* September 13, 2000: Duane Swanson, 87, the last surviving player from the 1st Olympic Gold Medalists in basketball, the U.S. team that won in Berlin in 1936. 64 years.

* May 17, 2001: Murray Murdoch, 96, the last surviving original New York Ranger from 1926. 75 years. He was also the last survivor from their 1928 Stanley Cup winners. 73 years.

* February 6, 2002: Jack Hurst, 87, the last surviving player from the Burnden Park Disaster, at Bolton, Greater Manchester, where 33 people died in an FA Cup Quarterfinal between Hurst's Bolton Wanderers and Stoke City, March 9, 1946. 56 years.

* August 7, 2002: Charles "Ookie" Miller, 92, the last surviving player from the Chicago Bears team that won the 1st NFL Championship Game, regardless of whether you consider that to be the unofficial one on December 18, 1932, at Chicago Stadium, a 9-0 win over the Portsmouth Spartans (they became the Detroit Lions in 1934); or the official one on December 17, 1933, at Wrigley Field, a 23-21 win over the New York Giants. 70 or 69 years. Either way, he played the position of center.

* November 4, 2003: Philip Slone, 96, the last surviving player from the U.S. team at the 1st World Cup, in 1930. 73 years. They reached the Semifinal, making them still the most successful U.S. men's World Cup team ever. Slone attended New York's High School of Commerce right after Lou Gehrig did, and was a midfielder on such early U.S. professional teams as the All-Jewish New York Hakoah and Brookhattan. He only played 1 game for the U.S. team, but it was in the 1930 World Cup.

* November 30, 2003: Jesus Correia, 79, the last of Lisbon soccer team Sporting Clube de Portugal's Cinco Violinos (Five Violins) that won 7 League titles from 1944 to 1953. 59 years.

* April 27, 2005: George "Red" Horner, 95, the last surviving player from the Ace Bailey Benefit Game, often called the 1st NHL All-Star Game, at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, February 14, 1934. 71 years. He was also the last surviving player from the Howie Morez Memorial Game, at the Montreal Forum, November 2, 1937. 68 years. At the time of each game, he was a defenseman for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

* June 1, 2005: George Mikan, 80, the last surviving original inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, established in 1959. 46 years. (Its original building did not open until 1968.)

* October 26, 2005: George Swindin, 90, the last surviving player from George Allison's Arsenal teams, which ended with Allison's retirement in 1947. 58 years. He played for their League Champions 1938, '48 and '53, and their 1950 FA Cup winners.

* December 27, 2005: John Druze, 91, the last surviving member of the 1936-38 Fordham University line (offensive and defensive) known as the Seven Blocks of Granite, best known for their scoreless tie with the University of Pittsburgh at the Polo Grounds in New York -- which could retroactively be considered one of the periodic "Games of the Century" -- on October 16, 1937. 68 years.

* November 5, 2006: Pietro Rava, 90, the last surviving player from the "Rest of Europe" team that played England in the Football Association 75th Anniversary Game at Wembley Stadium, October 26, 1938. 68 years. A left back for Turin-based Juventus, he had helped Italy win the 1936 Olympics and the 1938 World Cup (the last survivor of each team), although he was not yet a regular for their 1934 World Cup win.

The last surviving England player was Stan Cullis, a centre-half for Wolverhampton Wanderers, who later became their greatest manager, living until February 28, 2001. 62 years.

* November 27, 2007: Bill Willis, 86, the last of pro football's "Four Jackie Robinsons" who desegregated the sport in 1946. 61 years. Willis, a guard, and Marion Motley, a running back, played for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference, and eventually in the NFL.

Running back Kenny Washington and end Woody Strode, both of whom had played at UCLA, returned to the Los Angeles Coliseum to desegregate the NFL with the 1946 Los Angeles Rams. Washington died in 1971, Strode in 1994, Motley in 1999.

* October 27, 2008: Vladimir Savdunin, the last survivor of the Dynamo Moscow team that dominated Soviet soccer in the 1940s, and toured England in 1945 after World War II. 63 years.

* December 17, 2008: Sammy Baugh, 94, the last surviving original inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, September 8, 1963. 45 years. He played quarterback, cornerback and punter for the Washington Redskins from 1937 to 1952.

* January 27, 2009: Aubrey Powell, 90, the last surviving player from the Wales soccer team that beat England at the Hawthorns on October 20, 1945. 63 years.

* September 10, 2009: Lou Bender, 99, the last surviving player from "The Original Celtics," the 1st great pro basketball team, which dominated the sport in the 1920s. They were disbanded in 1927, so, 82 years.

* November 22, 2009: Juan Carlos Muñoz, 90, the last survivor of the Buenos Aires, Argentina team River Plate known as La Maquina (The Machine) that revolutionized South American soccer, winning league titles in 1941, 1942, 1945 and 1947. 68 years.

* January 21, 2010: Irwin Dambrot, 81, the last surviving player from the 1950 City College of New York basketball team, 60 years. They are the only team from New York City ever to win the NCAA Championship. They are also the only team ever to win the NCAA and the NIT in the same season. But he was also part of the point-shaving scandal that insured that such a "double" would never happen again, and ended New York basketball's glory days.

* December 23, 2011: James "Pappy" Ricks, 68, the last surviving player from the New York Renaissance Five, or "the New York Rens," the legendary all-black pro basketball team of the 1930s. He last played for them in 1936, so, 55 years.

* February 28, 2013: Ford "Moon" Mullen, 96, the last surviving basketball player from the 1st NCAA Tournament Champions, the University of Oregon, March 27, 1939. 74 years.

* July 22, 2013: Lawrie Reilly, 84, the last survivor of the "Famous Five" for Edinburgh team Hibernian, a.k.a. Hibs, winning the Scottish league title in 1951 and '52. 62 years.

* July 30, 2013: Oscar "Ossie" Schechtman, 94, the last surviving player from the 1st NBA game, the New York Knicks' 66-64 win over the Toronto Huskies at Maple Leaf Gardens, on November 1, 1946. 67 years.

* January 11, 2015: Jenő Buzánszky, 89, the last surviving player from Hungary's "Magnificent Magyars" that stunned England at the old Wembley in 1953, and then advanced to the 1954 World Cup Final before losing. 64 and 63 years.

* February 26, 2015: Earl Lloyd, 86, the last of the NBA's "Three Jackie Robinsons" at the start of the 1950-51 season. Almost 64 years. Chuck Cooper of the Boston Celtics was the 1st black player drafted by an NBA team, and he died in 1984. Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton of the New York Knicks was the 1st black player signed, and he died in 1990. But, as it worked out, Lloyd was the 1st player to get into a game, with the Washington Capitols.

* May 27, 2015: John Siegal, 97, the last surviving player from the Chicago Bears team that beat the Washington Redskins 73-0, the biggest blowout in NFL history, in the NFL Championship Game, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, December 8, 1940. 75 years. He played end on both offense and defense.

* July 16, 2015: Alcides Ghiggia, 88, the last surviving player from the Uruguay team that won the World Cup, shocking Brazil in the Final at the Estadio do Maracana, an event remembered in Brazil as the Maracanazo, July 16, 1950. 65 years.

* March 14, 2016: Davy Walsh, 92, the last surviving player from the Republic of Ireland team that upset England at Goodison Park in Liverpool, home of Everton Football Club, September 21, 1949. 66 years. At the time, he was a forward for Birmingham-area team West Bromwich Albion.

* October 21, 2016: Jerry Rullo, 93, the last surviving member of the 1st NBA Champions, the 1947 Philadelphia Warriors. 69 years.

* June 18, 2018: Walter Bahr, 91, the last surviving player from the U.S. soccer team that defeated England at the World Cup in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, June 29, 1950. 68 years. His sons Matt and Chris went on to become Super Bowl-winning placekickers. He barely outlived the last England player from that game, Roy Bentley, who died on April 20.

* September 19, 2019: Barron Hilton, 92, the last survivor of "The Foolish Club," the 8 rich men who decided to blow their fortunes on teams in the American Football League, at the AFL's founding meeting in Chicago, August 14, 1959, 60 years. He named his team the Los Angeles Chargers, but has always denied that he named them after the credit card he'd founded, Carte Blanche. (Why didn't he named them the Barons?)

He was a son of hotel magnate Conrad Hilton. And he was a brother of Conrad Nicholson Hilton Jr., a.k.a. Nicky Hilton, making him briefly a brother-in-law of Elizabeth Taylor.

Even weirder: His mansion in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, California -- not far from the Rose Bowl, the house used as Wayne Manor on Batman, and the house used as the Governor's Mansion on Benson -- was used for exterior shots of the Carrington Mansion on Dynasty. That show was set in Denver. The main character, Blake Carrington, played by John Forsythe, was based on oil tycoon Marvin Davis. In 1978, and again in 1980, Davis tried to buy the Oakland Athletics and move them to his hometown of Denver. Davis' grandson was Brandon Davis, who, for a time, dated Barron's granddaughter Paris Hilton.

* January 15, 2020: Bobby Brown, 96, the last surviving player from the Scotland team that beat England 1-0 at Hampden Park in Glasgow on April 13, 1946. 74 years.

* May 16, 2020: Gene Rossides, 92, the last surviving player from Columbia University's 1947 upset of Army, which hadn't lost in 4 years, a game nown as "the Miracle of Morningside Heights." 73 years.

* August 8, 2020: Gabriel Ochoa Uribe, 90, the goalkeeper and last surviving player from Colombian soccer team Millonarios de Bogotá's Ballet Azul (Blue Ballet) that won league titles in 1949, '51, '52 and '53. 71 years.

* November 8, 2020: Howie Meeker, 97, the last surviving player from the 1st official NHL All-Star Game, at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, October 13, 1947. 73 years. He was a right wing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and is also the last surviving player for their Stanley Cup-winning teams of 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1951. At the time of his death, he was also the earliest surviving player for a Stanley Cup winner. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, as a broadcaster.

* December 5, 2020: Viktor Ponedelnik, 83, the last surviving player from the Soviet Union soccer team that won the 1st European Championship, beating Yugoslavia 2-1 at Parc des Princes in Paris, on July 10, 1960. 60 years.

* December 24, 2020: Jack Myers, 96, the last surviving player from the Philadelphia Eagles' 1948 and 1949 NFL Champions. 72 and 71 years.

* April 19, 2021: Viktor Shuvalov, 97, the last surviving player from the 1st Soviet team to win an Olympic Gold Medal, at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy in 1956. 65 years.

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Alive as of May 6, 2021:

* Steve Wochy (born Wojciechowski), 98, is the oldest and earliest surviving NHL player. A right wing, he played 49 games for the Detroit Red Wings in the 1944-45 season, and 5 more in 1946-47. He had a much longer career in the minor leagues during the comparatively closed "Original Six" era.

* William "Dub" Jones, 96, is the last surviving player from the All-America Football Conference, which ran from 1946 (75 years) to 1949. He's also the last surviving player from the 1950 Cleveland Browns vs. Philadelphia Eagles "merger game," the last survivor of the Browns' 1950 NFL Champions, 1 of 3 from their 1954 NFL Champions, 1 of 5 from their 1956 NFL Champions, and the father of 1970s Baltimore Colts All-Pro quarterback Bert Jones.

* Johnny Lujack, 96, is the earliest surviving Heisman Trophy winner, for Notre Dame in 1947. 74 years. He's also the last surviving player from the 1946 Army-Notre Dame "Game of the Century" at the old Yankee Stadium, a 0-0 tie between the teams then ranked Number 1 and Number 2 in the country. 75 years.

* Charlie Trippi, 99, is the earliest surviving player for an NFL Championship team, the Chicago Cardinals, who beat the Philadelphia Eagles 28-21 at Comiskey Park, December 28, 1947. 73 years. He's also the last survivor of the Cardinals' "Million Dollar Backfield" of the late 1940s. Quarterback Paul Christman died in 1970, halfback Pat Harder in 1992, halfback Elmer Angsman in 2002, halfback Marshall Goldberg in 2006.

* Walter Hirsch, 93, is the last surviving member of the University of Kentucky basketball program's "Fabulous Five" that won the 1948 National Championship. He and Joe Hall, who went on to coach Kentucky to the 1978 National Championship, are the last 2 survivors from Kentucky's 1949 National Champions. Hirsch, Cliff Hagan and Guy Strong are the last 3 survivors from Kentucky's 1951 National Champions.

* Neil Harvey, 90, is the last surviving player from the 1948 Australia cricket team that beat England in their regular "Ashes" series, known as "The Invincibles" because they are the only cricket team ever to tour England without losing a test match. June 10 to August 18, 1948. 71 years.

While Donald Bradman, often regarded as the greatest batsman in cricket history, was undergoing his farewell tour, Harvey was a rookie, on his 1st tour. Domestically, he played for Victoria (the State of Australia that includes Melbourne) from 1946 to 1957, and for New South Wales (the State that includes Sydney) from then until his retirement from the sport in 1963.

* Arnie Ferrin, 95, is the earliest surviving player for an NBA Championship team, the Minneapolis Lakers, who beat the Washington Capitols in 6 games, April 13, 1949. 72 years. He's also the earliest surviving player for an NCAA Championship team, the University of Utah, beating Dartmouth College 42-40 at the old Madison Square Garden on March 28, 1944. 77 years.

* Cecil Souders, 100, is the oldest living former NFL player. And end, he played for the Detroit Lions from 1947 (74 years) to 1949.

* Marty Pavelich, 93, is the earliest surviving player for a Stanley Cup winner, the 1950 Detroit Red Wings. 71 years. He is also 1 of 4 survivors from the Wings' 1952 Cup winners, 1 of 4 from their 1954 Cup winners, and 1 of 5 from their 1955 Cup winners.

* Bob Cousy, 92, is the last surviving player from the 1st NBA All-Star Game, at his home court, the Boston Garden, March 2, 1951. 68 years.

* Tony Marchi, 88, is the earliest surviving player for a Football League title team, Tottenham Hotspur of North London, who clinched at home at White Hart Lane against Yorkshire team Sheffield Wednesday, April 28, 1951. 68 years. He was also the only player to still be there in 1961, when they won their only other League title, also against Wednesday, on April 17, 1961.

* Ágnes Keleti, 100, is the earliest surviving Olympic Gold Medalist. A gymnast competing for Hungary, she won 1 in Helsinki in 1952, and 4 in Melbourne in 1956.

* Vic Seixas, 97, is the earliest surviving winner of a tennis major. He won Wimbledon in 1953 and the U.S. Open in 1954.

* Horst Eckel, 89, is the earliest surviving player for the West Germany team that beat Hungary at the Wankdorf Stadium in Berne, Switzerland, to win the World Cup, on July 4, 1954. 65 years.

* Hugh McElhenny, 92, is the last surviving player from the San Francisco 49ers' 1954-56 "Million Dollar Backfield," the only entire backfield elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 67 years. He was a halfback. Fullback Joe "the Jet" Perry and halfback John Henry Johnson died within a few weeks of each other in 2011. Quarterback Y.A. Tittle died in 2017.

* Bill Leivers, 89, is the earliest surviving player for an FA Cup winner, Manchester City, who beat Birmingham City at Wembley Stadium, 3-1, on May 5, 1956. 65 years.

* Francisco Gento, age 87, is the last surviving player from the 1st European Cup Final, at Parc des Princes, Paris, June 13, 1956. 65 years. He is also the last survivor from the 1957 Final, and remains the only man to win 6 European Cups, all with Real Madrid.

* There are 2 surviving players from the Arsenal teams managed by Tom Whittaker, who died in office on October 24, 1956. 65 years. Cornelius "Con" Sullivan and Ray Swallow. Neither won a trophy with Arsenal.

* There are 3 surviving players from the New York Giants' 1956 NFL Champions: Sam Huff, Rosey Grier and Henry Moore.

Grier, a defensive tackle, is also the last survivor of the Los Angeles Rams' 1960s defensive line known as the Fearsome Foursome. End Lamar Lundy died in 2007, Tackle Merlin Olsen in 2010, and end Deacon Jones in 2013.

* There are 5 living survivors of the Munich Air Disaster that killed 23 people, including 8 members of the Manchester United soccer team on its way back from a European Cup Quarterfinal in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia), February 6, 1958, 61 years: United player Bobby Charlton (81); stewardess Rosemary Cheverton; Eleanor Miklos, wife of travel agent Bela Miklos, who was killed; Vera Lukić, the wife of a Yugoslav diplomat; and her daughter, Vesna Lukić.

As Vesna was a baby, she is likely to end up as the last survivor. Vera was pregnant with her son Zoran, and some sources list him as one of the survivors as well.

* There are 2 surviving players from the Brazil team that won the World Cup, beating host Sweden at Råsundastadion in the Stockholm suburb of Solna on June 29, 1958: Mario Zagallo and Pelé. Dino Sani, Moacir, José Altafini and José "Pepe" Macia are still alive, but did not play in the Final.

* Carlos Ortiz, 86, is the earliest surviving World Champion in boxing. The Puerto Rican was Light Welterweight Champion in 1959 and '60, Lightweight Champion from 1962 to 1965, and Lightweight Champion again 1965 to 1968.

* There are 3 surviving players from the Brazil team that won the World Cup, beating Czechoslovakia at the Estadio Nacional de Chile in Santiago on June 17, 1962, 59 years: Mario Zagallo, Pelé and Amarildo. Pepe, Altair, Mengálvio and Jair da Costa are still alive, but did not play in the Final.

* Jerry Lucas, 81, is the earliest surviving Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. He won in 1961, for helping Ohio State's basketball team to the 2nd of 3 straight NCAA Finals (but they only won the 1st, in 1960), and for being a scholar-athlete. He went on to a Hall of Fame career in the NBA.

* There are 4 surviving players from the England team that won the World Cup, beating West Germany at the old Wembley on July 30, 1966: George Cohen, Bobby Charlton, Geoff Hurst and Roger Hunt. Ron Flowers, Terry Paine, Ian Callaghan and George Eastham are still alive, but did not play in the Final.

* There are 7 surviving participants in "The Cleveland Summit," gathered in support of Muhammad Ali after he was stripped of the Heavyweight Championship of the World for refusing to be drafted, June 4, 1967, 52 years: Football players Jim Brown, Curtis McClinton, Jim Shorter, John Wooten and Walter Beach, all of whom were current or former Cleveland Browns; and basketball players Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then still using his birth name of Lew Alcindor).

(UPDATE: Russell died on July 31, 2022, leaving 6.)

* Jerry Green, 93, is the last surviving sportswriter who has covered every Super Bowl. He writes for the Detroit News. Jerry Izenberg, 88, of the Newark Star-Ledger, is also still alive, but stopped covering them after Super Bowl LIII. (UPDATE: Green was too ill to cover Super Bowl LVII, and died a few weeks later, on March 24, 2023, at 95.)

* George Foreman, 72, is the earliest surviving Heavyweight Champion of the World, first winning the title on January 22, 1973.

* Go for Gin, 30, is the earliest surviving horse to have won the Kentucky Derby, having won it in 1994.