National sports
NFL Hall of Famer Brown dead at 71
Roosevelt Brown, the Hall of Fame offensive tackle whose blocking helped the New York Giants reach six NFL championship games, has died. He was 71.
Brown died Wednesday in Mansfield Township, N.J., after collapsing in his garden, Police Chief Jim Humble said.
A 27th-round draft pick out of Morgan State in 1953, Brown started for 13 straight seasons at left tackle. He was chosen for the NFL’s 75th anniversary team in 2000.
“Rosie is a Hall of Fame player, and I wouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame if it weren’t for him,” former Giants halfback and flanker Frank Gifford said.
“Our two favorite plays were 48 pitchout and (Vince) Lombardi’s 49 sweep, and Rosie was the key man in all of that,” Gifford said.
“The longest run in my career (79 yards) was on a 48 pitchout against Washington. Rosie made a block at the line of scrimmage. I cut it up, and then I’m running downfield and I look up and I see number 79 (Brown) in front of me, and he wiped out another guy,” he said.
While he was later hobbled by hip and knee injuries, Brown had the speed and athleticism to be a tight end in today’s game, Gifford said.
Brown was small by current standards for offensive linemen, weighing 255 pounds. However, he was recognized as one of the best to play the game.
Brown was voted to the All-NFL team for eight consecutive seasons and selected to nine Pro Bowls. In 1956, he was chosen as the league’s lineman of the year. He was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1975.
With Brown, the Giants made it to the NFL title games six times between 1956 and 1963. New York won the championship only in ‘56.
“Rosie was a great Giant,” Giants co-owner Wellington Mara said Thursday. “He was with this organization for more than 50 years as a player, coach and scout. He excelled in every area and he was always a gentleman.”
After retiring, Brown served as the team’s assistant offensive line coach and later joined the scouting department.
Brown regularly attended training camp, often walking side-by-side with the 87-year-old Mara.
“Denver Broncos linebacker John Mobley should skip the 2004 season because of a bruised spinal cord, a neck specialist recommended. Coach Mike Shanahan said Mobley would be re-examined in a month.
Mobley has been out since bruising his spine Oct. 26, when he collided with teammate Kelly Herndon and Baltimore running back Jamal Lewis. When Mobley was examined by Dr. Robert Watkins of Los Angeles last week, an X-ray showed the bruise remains. Watkins recommended that Mobley sit out.
Auto racing
Legend Moody dies
Ralph Moody, a racing pioneer and Hall of Famer who won 93 races as a car owner on NASCAR’s top circuit, died at age 86. He died Wednesday at his home in Mooresville, N.C., after a long illness.
Between 1958 and 1972, Moody was a partner with John Holman in the Holman-Moody Racing shop that consistently put drivers in the winner’s circle and helped make Charlotte a motorsports center. Moody also won five races as a driver in 1956-57.
Moody was inducted last year into the N.C. Auto Racing Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame in 1990 and into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994.
“Ted Musgrave earned his first pole in what has been a disappointing season in the NASCAR Truck series, running a qualifying lap of 180.971 mph at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.
“Dario Franchitti earned his first pole in the IndyCar series with a lap at 209.609 — nearly 13 mph slower than the top qualifying speed of last October at Texas Motor Speedway.
Miscellany
ISU adopts changes
The International Skating Union, meeting in Scheveningen, Netherlands, dropped qualifying for two major figure skating events, avoiding the chance that a major contender could be virtually eliminated before the main competition. The ISU cut qualifying from European Championships and Four Continents competitions.
“Two Italian track and field athletes tested positive for steroids and could face two-year suspensions, Italian sports authorities said. The two are hammer thrower Loris Paoluzzi, who finished sixth at the 2000 Sydney Games, and discus thrower Danilo Liorni. Both tested positive for Norandrosterone, a performance-enhancing steroid.
“Olympic 1,500-meter silver medalist Violeta Beclea-Szekely will miss the Athens Games because of an injury. The 39-year-old Beclea-Szekely won silver medals in the 1,500 at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and the 2001 world championships.
“Slovakian tennis player David Sebok was given a two-year suspension for using banned substances. The Slovak tennis federation said the ban started May 14. Sebok is currently ranked 1,090 in the world.