the smedley log - suburban scrawl

Johnny Sample

Johnny Sample passed away earlier today at the age of 67. A great football player, beloved sports commentator and radio personality, a Philadelphian, and man who could be counted on to speak the truth as he saw it. He’ll be missed.

He was a crusty old curmudgeon for the last couple decades, but man was he ever a player.

It’d be nice to see more NFL players with his sense of responsibility and maturity. Here’s a guy who was a reliable, hard-hitting, stud defensive back for some pretty incredible teams, and he never got anywhere near the size ego that almost every NFL player has today.

Add to that the fact that he wrote a book half-way through his football career detailing his thoughts on the rasicm he saw in the NFL (which effectively got him blackballed by the NFL). Most current athletes don’t have the guts to do that while they’re still counting on the league for a paycheck. Gotta’ give him credit for being much more of a stand-up guy than, say, Jose Canseco…

I sure would love to find out somewhere, just what he died of. i have yet to find it….