Uchechukwu Nwaneri obit

Former Purdue, NFL player dies in West Lafayette home

 

 He was not on the list.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana — Former Purdue football offensive guard and former NFL player Uchechukwu Nwaneri died Friday in the West Lafayette home of his wife, according to West Lafayette police and Tippecanoe County Coroner Carrie Costello.

Nwaneri drove up from Georgia, police said, and he was at his wife's West Lafayette's house in the 2600 block of Willow Drive when he apparently collapsed, Costello said.

Nwaneri's wife found him unresponsive in a bedroom in her house about 1 a.m. Friday and called 911, Costello said.

An autopsy performed Monday indicated there were no signs of foul play, Costello said.

Preliminary results indicate a possible heart attack, pending toxicology results, Costello said.

A September 2006 Journal & Courier report written by now retired sports report and columnist Tom Kubat indicated Nwaneri started his final season as a offensive guard.

Nwaneri's parents immigrated to the United States from Nigeria in 1973. His first name means "God's wish," according to Kubat's September 2006 report.

Nwaneri's time on the Purdue gridiron was marred by a July 14, 2005, fight during practice with teammate Ryan Noblet.

During the fight, Nwaneri threw a punch that broke Noblet's jaw.

Nwaneri, who claimed he was defending himself, was suspended from Purdue for the 2005 fall semester, according to Kubat's reports in the J&C.

Then Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Jerry Bean said he would not charge Nwaneri because of conflicting statements given to investigators, according to a Jan. 6, 2006, J&C report. Bean said he could not determine if Noblet and Nwaneri were mutual combatants or whether Nwaneri was defending himself.

The J&C reached Noblet, who said, "I am sorry to hear of his passing."

Nwaneri returned for the spring semester, and returned to the team in 2006 for his final season as a Boilermaker.

Several of Nwaneri's teammates offered insight into his time at Purdue and beyond.

“When you spend hours and hours together, you develop a bond that sticks with you through the years," said Brian Wang, Nwaneri's teammate between 2002 and 2004.

“Uche loved to make people laugh, loved to learn and was always looking ahead at what was next. A successful entrepreneur after football," Wang said.

"My brother, Uche, was a great soul to be around," said former Purdue teammate Josh Ferguson. "He kept us smiling with a high spirit that was full of energy.

"In light of his recent death, I want to make clear that his presence had a positive impact on everyone he came across," Ferguson wrote in a prepared comment.

We all had our moments in life that we had to learn from," Ferguson wrote. "One incident as a young adult doesn't change who he was to many. Uche was loved by everyone! A man of his character will surely be missed."

Chase Lecklider, a wide receiver on the Boilermakers' squad between 2002 and 2006, said "Uche was a great teammate.

"We all had our moments, Uche was no different, but he was just a great teammate and friend. He made us laugh for five seasons together," Lecklider said.

Nwaneri was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2007, and he played seven seasons with the Jaguars, according to pro-football-reference.com.

"His career in the NFL was fitting reward for how good he was," Lecklider said. "The news of his passing hit hard. He's too young. My thoughts are with his family and I'll remember him well."

Nwaneri saw limited action as a rookie during the Jaguars' 2007 playoff run, playing in 9 games with 1 start. The next season, he was elevated to starter after an injury to starting guard Vince Manuwai. In all, he appeared in 15 games during the 2008 season, starting 15 of them. He allowed 4.5 sacks during the season.

In 2009, Nwaneri and fellow guard Maurice Williams competed for the starting guard position opposite the returning Vince Manuwai. Nwaneri won the job; Williams was deactivated for much of the season before being released on December 5, 2009. Nwaneri appeared in all 16 games, starting 13 of them. He was only credited with allowing one-half of a sack. Nwaneri was also not penalized during the 2009 season.

Barbara Walters - # 295

Barbara Walters, Trailblazing TV Broadcaster, Dead at 93

The legendary broadcast journalist was the first female anchor in evening news

 

She was number 295 on the list.

Barbara Walters, the pioneering news broadcaster who became a force in a male-dominated industry and whose relentless journalism inspired generations of women, has died at the age of 93.

“Barbara Walters passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones. She lived her life with no regrets,” a rep for Walters said in a statement to Rolling Stone on Friday. “She was a trailblazer not only for female journalists, but for all women.”

Walter’s career spanned five decades, during which she won 12 Emmy awards, and whose television interviews with celebrities and world figures weaved show business and journalism, forever changing the media landscape.

She joined the ABC News team in 1976 as the first female anchor on an evening news program. Three years later, she became the co-host of 20/20, and she launched The View in 1997, making her final appearance as a co-host in 2014. Walters remained an executive producer on The View and continued to conduct interviews and special features for ABC News.

Barbara Jill Walters was born in Boston on Sept. 25, 1929, to Dena, a homemaker, and Louis “Lou” Walters, who was a prominent nightclub owner in New York and Broadway producer. “Because my father was in show business and because there were these ups and downs, I always felt that I had to work to take care of myself,” Barbara said in a 1989 interview with the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Growing up surrounded by celebrities taught her a valuable lesson that she remembered throughout her rise in a growing and challenging media industry. “I would see them onstage looking one way and offstage often looking very different. I would hear my parents talk about them and know that even though those performers were very special people, they were also human beings with real-life problems,” Walters shared in the interview. “I can have respect and admiration for famous people, but I have never had a sense of fear or awe.”

She received her degree in English from Sarah Lawrence College. Upon graduating she worked at an NBC affiliate in New York City writing press releases. In 1953, she got her start as a producer, creating a 15-minute children’s program called Ask the Camera. Then in 1955, Walters was brought onto CBS’ The Morning Show as a writer.

Walter would become an official co-host on the morning show in 1974 after the death of Frank McGee. About two years later, she became the first woman to host an evening news show when she coanchored the ABC Evening News with Harry Reasoner until 1978.

Her first Barbara Walters Special was televised in 1976. For the first half of the show, she interviewed President-elect Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn; for the other half, she spoke with Barbra Streisand and her then-boyfriend, producer Jon Peters.

While many a male colleague grumbled about Walters’ meteoric rise in journalism, her tenacious drive continued to pay off. In November 1977, she gained a joint interview with President Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel prior to their historic 1979 peace treaty. Walters’ interviews with world leaders reflected the latter part of the 20th century’s political and social climate and included former Shah of Iran Mohammed Reza Pahlavi; Jean-Claude Duvalier of Haiti; Russia’s Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin; the UK’s Margaret Thatcher; and Fidel Castro in Cuba, with whom she cruised on a patrol boat across the Bay of Pigs.

In 1995, Christopher Reeve, who was thrown from a horse during an equestrian competition and paralyzed, spoke with Walters in his first interview since his tragic accident. “For years to millions of moviegoers, Christopher Reeve was Superman. I think he’s more Superman now,” Walters said as she introduced the actor. The interview became one of 20/20’s highest-rated programs and earned Walters a Peabody Award.

Walters continued to break barriers for women, and as she became known for her intimate “scoop” interviews with celebrities, often bringing them to tears, she became one herself. She sat-down with the “terribly shy” and “modest” Fred Astaire, the controversial boxer Mike Tyson, Lucille Ball, Truman Capote, Diana Ross, Audrey Hepburn, Tom Cruise, Eddie Murphy, George Clooney, and many others.

 

Notably, her 1999 two-hour special with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky drew in 74 million viewers, during which she infamously asked Lewinsky why she held onto the stained blue dress linked to her affair with then-President Bill Clinton.

Walters had some regrets. In 2010 she told the Toronto Star that she felt she had pressed Latin pop singer Ricky Martin too far in an interview to comment on whether he was gay. “I pushed Ricky Martin very hard to admit if he was gay or not, and the way he refused to do it made everyone decide that he was,” Walters admitted. “A lot of people say that destroyed his career, and when I think back on it now I feel it was an inappropriate question.”

There was also the 1981 chat with Katharine Hepburn, whom she asked the comically whimsical question, “What kind of tree are you?” The actress replied: “I hope I’m not a Dutch elm, because then I’m withering. I guess everyone would like to be an oak tree.”

In her 2008 autobiography, Audition, Walters shared insight on the ones who got away including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and Diana, Princess of Wales, who instead gave her first interview after her separation from Prince Charles to BBC’s Martin Bashir.

Walters’ impact on journalism spanned generations. She was inducted into the TV Academy’s Hall of Fame in 1990, was honored by a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007, and received Lifetime Achievement Awards for her TV work in 2000 and 2009.

She married the Broadway producer Lee Guber, and their grandson, Noah Shachtman, became Rolling Stone’s editor-in-chief in 2021. “Barbara was tough, brilliant, charming, erudite, and, above all, fearless,” said Shachtman.

“I’ll never forget how kind she was to my mom, or how wickedly funny she could be. In many ways, the Barbara you’d see at holidays was the same Barbara you’d watch on TV,” he added. “She’d stare into your eyes, and ask you these questions that burrow right into your soul’s deepest cracks. It was equal parts interrogation and act of love. Was she an inspiration? You’re damn right she was.”

Barbara Walters is survived by her daughter Jacqueline, named for her older sister.

Pele obit

Brazilian football (soccer) icon Pele has died at the age of 82

His daughter Kely Nascimento paid tribute to her father: "We are thanks to you. We love you infinitely. Rest in peace."

 

 He was not on the list.

Brazilian football star Pele has died at the age of 82, his agent has confirmed.

The former Santos FC star, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, had been at the Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital in Sao Paulo since 29 November.

A medical report just before Christmas showed that he needed care for cardiac and renal dysfunction, having been battling colon cancer since September 2021.

His daughter Kely Nascimento paid tribute to her father on Instagram: "We are thanks to you. We love you infinitely. Rest in peace."

Pele - originally named Edson Arantes do Nascimento - began playing for Santos at the age of 15 and the Brazilian national team a year later, bursting onto the world football scene as a 17-year-old in the 1958 World Cup.

During his international career, he won three World Cups - in 1958, 1962 and 1970 - the only player to achieve this.

He died on Thursday at 3.27pm Brazilian time due to multiple organ failure resulting from his colon cancer, the hospital said in a statement.

Gary Lineker was among those hailing Pele's legacy following the news of his death.

He said on Twitter: "The most divine of footballers and joyous of men.

"He played a game only a few chosen ones have come close to."

England World Cup winner Sir Geoff Hurst said Pele "remains the greatest of all time".

He said: "I have so many memories of Pele, without doubt the best footballer I ever played against (with Bobby Moore being the best footballer I ever played alongside).

"For me Pele remains the greatest of all time and I was proud to be on the the pitch with him. RIP Pele and thank you."

Lionel Messi, another footballer widely considered to be one of the greatest of all time, shared his own simple reflection: "Rest in peace".

Pele's role in Brazil's third victory, in Mexico in 1970, has gone down in football folklore, as he played a key role in arguably the sport's greatest ever international team.

His glittering 20-year career from 1957 to 1977 saw him score 757 goals in 831 games, although Santos claim his tally was closer to 1,000.

A post on Pele's official Instagram account following his death said the icon "enchanted the world".

 

"Inspiration and love marked the journey of King Pelé, who peacefully passed away today.

"On his journey, Edson enchanted the world with his genius in sport, stopped a war, carried out social works all over the world and spread what he most believed to be the cure for all our problems: love.

"His message today becomes a legacy for future generations.

"Love, love and love, forever."

How many hours have been spent arguing, analysing and disagreeing over who was the greatest footballer of all time? 

There's no doubt Pele is at the top of many lists.

No other man has three World Cup wins on his CV - even if he was injured and sat out most of Brazil's victory in 1962. Lionel Messi has won one World Cup.

Cristiano Ronaldo has more goals than Pele, Maradona was probably the better dribbler.

Then there's Di Stefano, Puskas, Cruyff, Bobby Charlton, George Best - the list of contenders stirs up some special memories.

Fellow Brazilian Marta has a similar status in the women's game - she's the first footballer of any gender to score at five World Cups.

Greatness though, isn't just measured in playing stats.

Pele defined a nation and introduced Brazilian football to the world.

In 1967 he and his team were in Nigeria where the west African nation's civil war was actually put on hold for 48 hours so that people could watch the great man play.

That's the hallmark of greatness.

It's not just the goals but the power to change the way people feel - about themselves, their team, their country and the game they love. The game Pele was born to play.

In 1999, he was named Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee and was included in the Time list of the 100 most important people of the 20th century. In 2000, Pelé was voted World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) and was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the Century. His 1,279 goals in 1,363 games, which includes friendlies, is recognised as a Guinness World Record.

Pelé began playing for Santos at age 15 and the Brazil national team at 16. During his international career, he won three FIFA World Cups: 1958, 1962 and 1970, the only player to do so. He was nicknamed O Rei (The King) following the 1958 tournament. Pelé is the joint-top goalscorer for Brazil with 77 goals in 92 games. At the club level, he was Santos's all-time top goalscorer with 643 goals in 659 games. In a golden era for Santos, he led the club to the 1962 and 1963 Copa Libertadores, and to the 1962 and 1963 Intercontinental Cup. Credited with connecting the phrase "The Beautiful Game" with football, Pelé's "electrifying play and penchant for spectacular goals" made him a star around the world, and his teams toured internationally to take full advantage of his popularity. During his playing days, Pelé was for a period the best-paid athlete in the world. After retiring in 1977, Pelé was a worldwide ambassador for football and made many acting and commercial ventures. In 2010, he was named the honorary president of the New York Cosmos.

After the 1974 season (his 19th with Santos), Pelé retired from Brazilian club football although he continued to occasionally play for Santos in official competitive matches. A year later, he came out of semi-retirement to sign with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1975 season. At a chaotic press conference at New York's 21 Club, the Cosmos unveiled Pelé. John O'Reilly, the club's media spokesman, stated, "We had superstars in the United States but nothing at the level of Pelé. Everyone wanted to touch him, shake his hand, get a photo with him." Though well past his prime at this point, Pelé was credited with significantly increasing public awareness and interest of the sport in the US.[49] During his first public appearance in Boston, he was injured by a crowd of fans who had surrounded him and was evacuated on a stretcher.

Pelé entering the field to play his first game with the Cosmos, 15 June 1975

Pelé made his debut for the Cosmos on 15 June 1975 against the Dallas Tornado at Downing Stadium, scoring one goal in a 2–2 draw. Pelé opened the door for many other stars to play in North America. Giorgio Chinaglia followed him to the Cosmos, then Franz Beckenbauer and his former Santos teammate Carlos Alberto. Over the next few years other players came to the league, including Johan Cruyff, Eusébio, Bobby Moore, George Best and Gordon Banks.

In 1975, one week before the Lebanese Civil War, Pelé played a friendly game for the Lebanese club Nejmeh against a team of Lebanese Premier League stars,[52] scoring two goals which were not included in his official tally. On the day of the game, 40,000 spectators were at the stadium from early morning to watch the match.

Pelé led the Cosmos to the 1977 Soccer Bowl, in his third and final season with the club.[54] In June 1977, the Cosmos attracted an NASL record 62,394 fans to Giants Stadium for a 3–0 victory past the Tampa Bay Rowdies with a 37-year-old Pelé scoring a hat-trick. In the first leg of the quarter-finals, they attracted a US record crowd of 77,891 for what turned into an 8–3 rout of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers at Giants Stadium. In the second leg of the semi-finals against the Rochester Lancers, the Cosmos won 4–1. Pelé finished his official playing career on 28 August 1977, by leading the New York Cosmos to their second Soccer Bowl title with a 2–1 win over the Seattle Sounders at the Civic Stadium in Portland, Oregon.