Sam Cowart, a former Miami Dolphins linebacker who made the team as an undrafted free agent, passed away on Friday at the age of 80. He was a gifted athlete from Minnesota who participated in various sports before his career was cut short due to his involvement in a well-known airplane accident.

Former Miami Dolphins linebacker Bob Brudzinski passed away.

According to Joel Rippel of the Star Tribune, Bob Bruggers passed away in Florida. He was a distinguished high school athlete in Minnesota and later played basketball and football for the Golden Gophers.

Bruggers helped Danube, situated in Renville County approximately 100 miles west of the Twin Cities, reach the high school basketball state tournament in 1961 and 1962. Following the 1962 season, he earned a spot on the Parade All-America team.

Transitioning to college, Bruggers played both offense and defense for the Gophers football team from 1963 to 1965. Subsequently, he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the American Football League’s Miami Dolphins. As a linebacker, he spent 2½ seasons with Miami before being traded to the San Diego Chargers, where he played an additional 3½ seasons, accumulating a total of 57 AFL/NFL games.

Bob Bruggers, a former University of Minnesota football player and professional wrestler, survived a notorious airplane crash in 1975 that ended his wrestling career[1][3]. The crash occurred on October 4th, 1975 when Bruggers, along with Ric Flair, Johnny Valentine, Tim Woods, and David Crockett, were aboard a small twin-engine plane that ran out of fuel just short of the runway in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Bruggers suffered a spinal injury and had a steel rod inserted into his back, but he was able to walk again after a month in the hospital[1]. While he could have potentially made a comeback to wrestling, he never competed again after the accident.

The crash was one of two fatal plane crashes that occurred in the wrestling world in 1975, with the other happening in February of that year[1]. Bruggers’ survival was remarkable, but the incident ultimately ended his athletic career as a professional wrestler.

Following an injury in a well-known airplane crash involving Ric Flair, Bruggers was forced to retire from wrestling.

It stands out as one of the most significant plane accidents in wrestling history, becoming a topic of conversation within the industry for years. The crash had a lasting impact on Mid-Atlantic Championship wrestling, a key component of the National Wrestling Alliance (N.W.A.), altering its landscape permanently. Two careers came to an end due to the crash, while Ric Flair’s career was nearly derailed before it truly began.

Both Bruggers and Valentine suffered spinal injuries, requiring them to spend ten days in a Wilmington hospital before being transported by chartered plane to a Houston hospital for back surgery. Bruggers had a steel rod inserted into his spinal column during the procedure and was discharged from the hospital three weeks later. Despite the possibility of continuing his wrestling career, he chose not to return to the ring.