Larry Gordon (July 8, 1954 – June 25, 1983) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

for seven seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

. A member of the Dolphins' Silver Anniversary team, he was in the starting lineup from his rookie season until his death. During his college football career at Arizona State he played alongside future All-American and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

linebacker, Bob Breunig. Together, they are viewed as the best linebacker tandem to ever play the position at ASU. In 1976 Gordon won the Tommy Fitzgerald Award as the Dolphins' outstanding rookie in training camp. He would be named the team's outstanding LB twice in his career. In 1978 Gordon intercepted 3 passes in a 23–6 rout of the Raiders that clinched a wildcard berth for the Dolphins. In 1979 he set a team playoff record for the most fumble recoveries in a game (2 vs Pittsburgh). Gordon collapsed while jogging in the desert outside

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

on June 25, 1983, and died about an hour later at a Phoenix hospital. His death was attributed to

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...

.Update Dolphins' Gordon dies of heart disease
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References

1954 births 1983 deaths American football linebackers Miami Dolphins players Arizona State Sun Devils football players Players of American football from Monroe, Louisiana People from Miramar, Florida {{linebacker-1950s-stub