Family members have verified that Super Bowl winner Russ Francis, 70, perished in an aircraft crash. On Sunday, just after taking off from Lake Placid Airport, Francis and Richard McSpadden, a former leader of the US Air Force Thunderbirds, faced an incident. They were both killed when their plane crashed while trying to land.
“My older brother Russ Francis was just killed in an airplane crash in Lake Placid, New York,” Francis’s brother, Ed, said in a Facebook post on Sunday. “Flying was my brother’s lifelong passion, and perhaps a fitting way for him to go. Godspeed to you my big brother!!”
We are deeply saddened by the sudden and tragic loss of former New England Patriots tight end Russ Francis. Our condolences are extended to Francis’ family and friends. pic.twitter.com/sgrrPZ5Ui4
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 2, 2023
After Francis retired from the NFL, he pursued his passion in aviation and eventually bought Lake Placid Airways. He could also fly helicopters and planes. Francis was drafted by the New England Patriots in the first round of the 1975 NFL draft and was selected to the Pro Bowl three times during his career with the organization.
He signed with the 49ers in 1982 and helped lead them to a Super Bowl victory in January 1985. In 1987, he came back to play for the Patriots before retiring the following year. Those of us who knew former New England Patriots tight end Russ Francis mourn his untimely and tragic passing. The Patriots sent a message of sorrow to Francis’s family and friends.
He was interested in flying planes, but he also tried his hand at professional wrestling and politics in Hawaii in the early 2000s. For Patriots owner Robert Kraft, “he was a dynamic player on the field who had an even bigger personality off it,” as said in a statement released on Monday.
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