{"id":60031,"date":"2025-06-07T00:19:23","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T00:19:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=60031"},"modified":"2025-06-07T00:19:23","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T00:19:23","slug":"super-bowl-winner-dead-after-being-hospitalized-in-may-from-a-stroke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=60031","title":{"rendered":"Super Bowl winner dead after being hospitalized in May from a stroke"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"js-article-text\">\n<ul>\n<li><strong>READ MORE: Steelers slammed for signing &#8216;washed up diva&#8217; Aaron Rodgers<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>By JAKE FENNER<\/p>\n<p>Published:<time datetime=\"2025-06-06T22:07:00+0100\"> 17:07 EDT, 6 June 2025 <\/time> | Updated: <time datetime=\"2025-06-06T22:07:00+0100\"> 17:07 EDT, 6 June 2025 <\/time><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Former Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Tom Rafferty, who won Super Bowl XII with the team, passed away in Windsor, Colorado on Thursday at the age of 70.<\/p>\n<p>Rafferty had been hospitalized since early May after suffering a stroke. His daughter, Rachel, confirmed his passing.<\/p>\n<p>Across a 14-year NFL career, Rafferty took part in 221 games in the regular season and the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>A native of Syracuse, New York, Rafferty played college football under Joe Paterno at Penn State.<\/p>\n<p>He was selected 119th overall in the fourth round of the 1976 by the Cowboys &#8211; the only team he ever played for in his career.<\/p>\n<p>Rafferty was a steady presence on the Cowboys&#8217; offensive line &#8211; bridging a gap between two Hall-of-Fame quarterbacks: Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Tom Rafferty, a 14-year NFL veteran who won a Super Bowl, passed away at the age of 70<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Rafferty played his entire career with the Dallas Cowboys &#8211; winning Super Bowl XII<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The center started two Super Bowls for the Cowboys: Super Bowl XII, when they defeated the Denver Broncos, and Super Bowl XIII, when they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers.<\/p>\n<p>In the 1983 season, Rafferty laid some crucial blocks to help Dallas running back Tony Dorsett set an NFL record with a 99-yard touchdown run.<\/p>\n<p>After retiring from football, Rafferty worked in sports equipment sales as a second job.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Dallas Morning News, Rafferty managed to teach himself to walk again in middle age after a neurological disorder left him without any feeling below the waist.<\/p>\n<p>Rafferty, a member of the Greater Syracuse Hall of Fame, is survived by his wife, daughter, son, and two grandchildren.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Tom Rafferty, who won Super Bowl XII with the team, passed away in Windsor, Colorado on Thursday at the age of 70.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":60032,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[391,176,54,1379,9,182],"class_list":["post-60031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl","tag-colorado","tag-dailymail","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-new-york","tag-nfl","tag-sport"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - 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