Retired Dolphin punter Reggie Roby dies at age 43
 

wtf is with these football players dying so young lately?

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Retired National Football League punter Reggie Roby dies at age 43

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Former punter Reggie Roby, a 16-year NFL veteran and three-time Pro Bowl selection, died Tuesday after being found unconscious at home by his wife. He was 43.

Melissa Roby found her husband with no pulse. Paramedics tried to resuscitate him at home and in the ambulance, but he was pronounced dead in the emergency room at St. Thomas Hospital, according to a statement released by the family.

The cause of death is unknown, the statement said.

Roby was a sixth-round pick in 1983 out of Iowa by the Miami Dolphins, where he played from 1983 to 1992. He also played for the Washington Redskins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Houston/Tennessee Oilers and San Francisco 49ers, where he wrapped up his career with a final season in 1999.

He led the AFC in 1991 with an average punt of 45.7 yards, and he still holds the Pro Bowl record with 10 punts in the 1985 game. Roby was famous for wearing a watch when he played.

"He was an outstanding punter for us and his booming kicks often helped us win the field position battle," Don Shula, who coached Roby, said in a statement released by the Dolphins.

"Often on walkthroughs in domed stadiums the day before the game, he always would try to hit to top of the dome with a punt. He sometimes succeeded, which illustrates just how strong a leg he had. Reggie helped define the position and even after he retired, every time I saw a long, high punt, it always reminded me of one of his kicks."

Roby, who had six children, was the marketing and development director for Backfield in Motion, a non-profit group mixing athletics and academics to help boys in the inner city.

"Reggie was just a kid at heart," said Michael Brown, Backfield in Motion's chief executive officer. "Reggie was the ultimate package as far as I was concerned. In this type of work that we are in, there is no question that it was his calling."