Celebrity Death Thread

[Trickalicious]

Stabler studied his playbook by the light of the jukebox back when the NFL was fun.

The NFL was fun?

[Malto Marko]

Where ya been, Rocky? Missed you.

[DanO]

"Roger Rees died. Most well known for having played Robin Colcord on Cheers."
----------------------------Don't remember either. I'll have to look it up.

RIP Roger.

[DanO]

RIP Omar Sharif.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/10/entertainment/omar-sharif-dies/

[PackFanInChiTown]

Rest my man, and may ye be in heaven a half hour afore the devil knows yer dead...

[froot loops]

Man it hasn't been a great summer for the stars of the 80's wrestling scene. Dusty Rhodes passed, Hulk is becoming a nonperson, and now Roddy.

[-Deborah-]

Lions legend Mel Farr passes
Author: Derick Hutchinson, ClickOnDetroit Sports Editor, @Derick_Hutch
Published On: 11 m Updated 7 m

DETROIT -

Detroit Lions legend Mel Farr passed away Monday, a family friend confirmed to Local 4.

Farr played for the Lions from 1967-1973 and ran for 3,072 yards and 26 touchdowns in 69 games. He also caught 146 passes for 1,374 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Farr was born in Beaumont, Texas on Nov. 3, 1944 and attended UCLA. The Lions drafted him with the 7th overall pick in the 1967 NFL draft.

He was named to two pro bowls during his career.

[Chuck Cunningham]

First Charlie Sanders now Mel Farr a few weeks later!

[fontes91]

Good back. He and Steve Owens were the backs when I first became a fan. And who can forget those car commercials. RIP Mel Farr, superstar.

[jaadam4]

That sucks about Roddy Piper. He was a lot of fun to watch growing up.

[Drew]

RIP Mel. The featured running back when I started watching.

[The Cat]

From the Freep.

It was called the Boardroom.
It wasn't a suite with a penthouse view. It was a chapped asphalt tennis court in Mel Farr's backyard, on an acre-and-a-half lot at the end of a dirt road in Bloomfield Hills. Farr became the first person of color to live on that street.
The year was 1968. America simmered as a cauldron of political, social and racial upheaval. In Detroit, tensions remained a tinderbox, a year removed from one of the worst riots in U.S. history.
It also was the time when the black athlete gained a voice that extended well beyond the football field or basketball court. Either accept how others define you, or define yourself on your terms.
That was the mission from those tennis matches between Farr, Detroit Lions teammate Lem Barney, Pistons star Dave Bing and a steady array of other athletes, entertainers and religious, business and political figures. From that incubator grew two of the most successful entrepreneurial endeavors in the African-American business community.
Bing became a steel magnate and, later, the mayor of Detroit.
Farr donned a red cape and became an auto-dealership "superstar" in those iconic television commercials.
Farr, who died Monday night, at age 70, had a colorful style running the football for seven seasons with the Lions. He had two Pro Bowl seasons. But it didn't compare to the showmanship exhibited in making a car-dealership empire that Black Enterprises magazine cited in 1998 as the biggest black-owned business in America, with a net worth just under $600 million.
It all started in the Boardroom, initially considered an act of defiance.
"One reason why we decided to get together there was to kind of throw it into people's faces," Farr told me in a 2011 interview for my biography of Bing, "A Life of Challenge." "The message was that we're not going to hide. We weren't going to back down simply because some folks might have been uncomfortable having us there. But it came down to a simple principle: We had the financial means to do this, so why not?"
One of the valuable lessons learned from those heated tennis matches was that young athletes couldn't wait until the ends of their careers before charting the next chapter of their lives. Farr learned about the dealership business during his playing days, seeking assistance from Ford Motor Company in the form of what amounted to an internship program. He knew that there was an egregious lack of minority-owned car dealerships.
But Farr never shied away from an extraordinary challenge, always more interested in mapping his own path rather than merely following the suggestions of others.
He grew up in heavily segregated Beaumont, Texas. State law prohibited public-school integration. Farr was a star running back at all-black Hebert High School. His good friend Bubba Smith played at nearby Pollard High. Both desired to play college ball for Texas, but football integration remained taboo in the major Southern-based athletic conferences such as the SEC, ACC and the now-defunct Southwest.
In 1962, Farr almost joined Bubba Smith in attending Michigan State.
"I was going there initially," Farr said. "Bubba kept saying that, if I joined him, (Michigan State) would definitely win the national championship. He kept saying that we would be unstoppable. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I wanted to branch out and do something else. I never considered myself to be a follower."
Farr went to UCLA instead. It impressed him that Jackie Robinson went there.
The right men merged at the right time in Detroit in the late '60s. Star athletes with the right touch of rebelliousness, very comfortable and confident in telling those who thought that they should know their place that they were more than capable of forging their own successful futures.

[CGVT]

O'HARA: Remembering Mel Farr
Posted 1 hour ago


Mike O'Hara
Columnist
More by O'Hara Follow Mike on Google+
Mike O'Hara remembers former Lions running back Mel Farr, who passed away Monday night at the age of 70.
Mel Farr’s debut with the Detroit Lions provided a real-life action shot of the spectacular game-breaking skills the team and its fans hoped that the star running back would bring to the franchise.
Ironically and unfortunately, Farr would become known in later life more for the campy commercials that portrayed him as the “Mel Farr, Superstar” auto dealer than for his performance on the field because of injuries that hampered and ultimately ended his career prematurely.

Farr died Monday night at his home in Metro Detroit. His passing sent shock waves through former teammates. He was 70 and appeared in good health as recently as when he attended the funeral of former teammate and all-time Lions great Charlie Sanders.

Greg Landry, the Lions’ starting quarterback for much of Farr’s seven-year career as a Lion from 1967-73, was stunned to hear the news.

Mel FarrMel Farr (Photo: AP Images)
“That’s a shocker,” Landry said Tuesday morning. “He played hard when he was on the field. He always seemed to be a very educated man who was looking to better himself.

“That’s what he did. He used all the opportunities that were afforded to him, and he capitalized on them.”

Farr was the Lions’ first-round pick and the seventh choice overall in 1967 after a great career at UCLA. That draft also brought to the Lions eventual Hall of Fame cornerback Lem Barney, linebacker Paul Naumoff and safety Mike Weger.

In drafting Farr, the Lions had added what was projected to be the co-star in the “Dream Backfield.”

In the 1966 draft, the Lions had taken running back Nick Eddy of Notre Dame as a future pick. Eddy did not join the Lions until 1967.

“The Dream Backfield” seemed like a reality when the Lions opened the preseason against the Buffalo Bills on a steamy August night at Tiger Stadium.

There was high anticipation for the game because of what Farr and Eddy were projected to bring to Detroit, and they did not disappoint.

Farr capped off the game’s first possession with a 38-yard touchdown reception. Farr caught Mile Plum’s pass at the 16-yard line and raced into the end zone.

That was the first shot in a double-barreled volley of rare exhibition-season drama.

The Lions’ defense held on Buffalo’s first possession, forcing a punt.

Eddy fielded the ensuing punt at his 25, made a sharp cut to avoid a wave of tacklers and raced 75 yards for a touchdown.

It was only an exhibition game, but the stars of the Dream Backfield had the town buzzing.

However, the Dream Backfield ultimately proved to be just that – a dream.

Eddy missed all of his rookie season because of the first in a series of injuries that would torpedo his career. He was limited to 29 games and eight starts over five seasons (1968-72) and accumulated only 523 yards rushing and 237 receiving.

Despite his own battles with injuries, Farr’s career was substantially more successful than Eddy’s. He rushed for 3,072 yards and 26 touchdowns and caught 146 passes for 1,374 yards and 10 TDs.

Farr made the Pro Bowl twice – in his rookie season, when he also was Offensive Rookie of the Year, and again in the 1970 season, when the Lions made the playoffs with a 10-4 record.

Farr was a popular personality in Detroit as a player, and well before “Mel Farr, Superstar” commercials hit the TV air waves.

Farr and Barney became friends with the late Marvin Gaye, who had reached star status as a singer by the time they got to Detroit together in 1967. Farr and Barney sang backup vocals on the hit “What’s Going On.”

Farr was a four-sport star at Herbert High School in Beaumont, Texas. It was a hot bed of prep talent, and Farr was one of the stars.

He came from a football family. His brother, Miller Farr, played defensive back for nine NFL seasons and finished his career as Mel’s teammate in Detroit in 1973.

Mel had two sons and two daughters. His wife, Jasmine, is expecting a daughter.

Mel’s two sons – Mel Jr. and Mike – played in the NFL after following in their father’s footsteps to UCLA.

Mel Jr. was drafted by Denver in 1988 and played briefly as a running back for the Rams in 1989.

Mike made the Lions in 1990 as an undrafted rookie and spent three seasons in Detroit before signing with New England in 1993, the first year of free-agency in the NFL.


VIEW GALLERY | 15 Photos
Mel Farr photos
Mike played 42 games with 30 starts and had 69 catches for 716 yards and a touchdown. His best season was 1991 when he caught 42 passes for 431 yards and a touchdown, playing all 16 games with 12 starts. He had five catches in the playoff victory over Dallas and six in the loss to Washington in the NFC Championship.

Mel Farr Sr. played his entire career in a 14-game schedule, which made reaching the 1,000-yard mark a more difficult chore than in the current 16-game schedule.

Farr often was among the league leaders in key categories.

His rookie rushing total of 860 yards was the highest of his career and ranked him eighth in the league on the rushing list that season. In 1970 he was 11th with 717 yards and tied for second in rushing touchdowns with nine, despite missing two games.

In 1968 Farr averaged 15.6 yards per catch on 24 receptions. Only two backs with 20 or more catches had a higher average – John David Crow (31 catches, 17.1-yard average) and Billy Cannon (23 catches, 15.7-yard average).

Farr’s tenure with the Lions and his career ended without fanfare after the 1973 season. He was notified in the offseason that he had been traded to the Houston Oilers (since relocated to Tennessee).

Although he was born in Beaumont, Farr chose to retire rather than to continue his career with his home-state. Injuries had caught up to him, forcing him to leave football at the age of 29.

Farr had an eye to the future early in his pro career. He attended night classes at Wayne State University after practice to finish work on his degree that he started when he was at UCLA.

After football he pursued business interests as an auto dealer, opening Mel Farr Ford on 8 Mile Rd. in Oak Park in 1975. His business expanded over the next two decades to the point where by the late 1990s his auto enterprise was the top African-American-owned business in the United States.

Farr encountered legal problems with customers. He eventually settled their claims and sold his dealership interests in 2002. They were closed down.

It was a sad and tawdry ending to what had been a stunning success story for a football player who made himself a highly regarded entrepreneur, but his accomplishments as a player stand apart from his business failures.

From one shining night in the summer of 1967 when Mel Farr first stepped on a playing field for the Lions through his final game in the winter of 1973 and the commercials that followed in his business pursuits, “Mel Farr, Superstar” was an iconic brand that has endured for many in Metro Detroit.

In the starring role of the “Dream Backfield,” Mel Farr brought the dream to life.

[bimmer84]

Mel had two sons and two daughters. His wife, Jasmine, is expecting a daughter.

Huh?

[CGVT]

Mel had two sons and two daughters. His wife, Jasmine, is expecting a daughter.

Huh?

Mel Farr, Superstar...