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| "The Perm" is Dead. Long Live The Perm |
80's RAIDER GREAT TODD CHRISTENSEN DEAD AT 57
Former NFL tight end and broadcaster Todd Christensen died Wednesday morning in Salt Lake City due to complications from surgery, according to BYU, Christensen's alma mater.
He was 57.
Christensen had fought liver disease and other illnesses in recent years, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
Christensen played in the NFL for 11 seasons after being picked by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 1978 draft.
He won two Super Bowl rings with the Raiders became a star for the team once it moved to Los Angeles in 1982.
Christensen was a five-time Pro Bowler and a first-team all-pro twice.
He set a single-season record for tight ends with 92 receptions in 1983, and broke it three years later with 95 catches. He finished his career with 461 receptions for 5,872 yards with 41 TDs.
Christensen was 32 when his NFL career ended in 1988, but he stayed in the limelight. He had tryouts with the Oakland Athletics and California Angels. He even hit a home run during his workout with the A's in 1990, saying: "That was pretty exciting. I thought, 'What's there to this? It's easy.' "
His baseball career didn't go any further than that, but Christensen eventually turned to track and field where he competed in masters events and set age-group world records in several events, including the heptathlon.
He also found work in television as a college football and NFL analyst for NBC and ESPN and also co-hosted the short-lived American Gladiators TV series while making appearances on Married With Children, On Stage America and other shows.
He was 57.
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| Perm notwithstanding, Christensen bears some resemblance to the Nolte character in North Dallas Forty, veteran WR Phil Elliot. |
Christensen had fought liver disease and other illnesses in recent years, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
Christensen played in the NFL for 11 seasons after being picked by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 1978 draft.
He won two Super Bowl rings with the Raiders became a star for the team once it moved to Los Angeles in 1982.
Christensen was a five-time Pro Bowler and a first-team all-pro twice.
He set a single-season record for tight ends with 92 receptions in 1983, and broke it three years later with 95 catches. He finished his career with 461 receptions for 5,872 yards with 41 TDs.
His baseball career didn't go any further than that, but Christensen eventually turned to track and field where he competed in masters events and set age-group world records in several events, including the heptathlon.
He also found work in television as a college football and NFL analyst for NBC and ESPN and also co-hosted the short-lived American Gladiators TV series while making appearances on Married With Children, On Stage America and other shows.
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