NFL Super Bowl Champ Joe Campbell Dead at 68.
A member of the 1980 history-making Oakland Raiders has passed away.
Joe Campbell, who moved over to the Raiders in 1980 less than halfway through the season from the New Orleans Saints, is dead, reports Delaware Online.
Campbell reportedly suffered a heart attack and was found dead in his home by his brother, reports Fox News.
Sad Ending
Campbell was not exactly a household name in the NFL, but it was not supposed to be that way.
He was a standout defensive player at Maryland University, leading to becoming a first-round pick in the 1977 draft.
He wound up going to the Saints with the 7th overall pick, but just never clicked in the NFL the way he had in college.
The Saints tried to move him from end to LB, but ended up trading him in the midst of the 1980 season to the Oakland Raiders, which was a great move for Campbell.
As it turned out, Oakland caught fire at just the right time and ended up tearing through the playoffs and making it to the Super Bowl as a wild-card playoff team.
Unlike the Dallas Cowboys who had accomplished the same feat a few years earlier, the Raiders won their Super Bowl, handing the favored Philadelphia Eagles a devastating loss.
Campbell started the next season with the Raiders, but he was moved to Tampa Bay in the middle of the season again. He would retire after that one final season.
He never made it to the NFL Hall of Fame, but he was inducted into the Delaware Hall of Fame in 1992.
Campbell had suffered some medical issues as of late, some stemming from a 2007 accident.
Campbell’s brother Patrick broke the news of his brother’s death, stating that Joe had gone for a hike earlier in the day and returned him.
They suspected that he had suffered a heart attack.
Rest in peace, Joe.
