Super Bowl champion Russ Francis killed in New York plane crash | NFL

Tremendous Bowl champion Russ Francis has died on the age of 70 in a aircraft crash, his household has confirmed.

Francis was flying with Richard McSpadden, a former commander of the US Air Drive Thunderbirds, on Sunday when their aircraft skilled an emergency shortly after takeoff from Lake Placid Airport. They have been unable to make the runway whereas making an attempt to land and have been each killed.

“My older brother Russ Francis was simply killed in an airplane crash in Lake Placid, New York,” Francis’s brother, Ed, mentioned in a Fb submit on Sunday. “Flying was my brother’s lifelong ardour, and maybe a becoming means for him to go. God velocity to you my huge brother!!”

Francis grew to become desirous about flying after his retirement from the NFL and owned Lake Placid Airways. He was additionally a professional helicopter and airplane pilot.

The New England Patriots chosen Francis within the first spherical of the 1975 draft, and he was named to the Professional Bowl on three events throughout his time with the workforce. In 1982, he joined the San Francisco 49ers, with whom he gained a Tremendous Bowl in January 1985. He returned to the Patriots within the 1987 season earlier than retiring the next 12 months.

“We’re deeply saddened by the sudden and tragic lack of former New England Patriots tight finish Russ Francis. Our condolences are prolonged to Francis’ household and associates,” mentioned the Patriots in a press release on social media.

In addition to his curiosity in aviation, he had spells as knowledgeable wrestler and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Hawaii within the early 2000s.

“He was a dynamic participant on the sector who had an excellent greater character off it,” mentioned Patriots proprietor Robert Kraft in a press release on Monday.