Very sad. I wouldn't be surprised if he suffered from some sort of brain injuries after all of those big hits over the years. The future of football could be in some serious jeopardy.
I understand the sentiment and I am not saying you are wrong. Also completely agree that it is always sad to lose a dynamic inspirational figure.
But really WTF is wrong with people?
People are born.
Make decisions in life.
And then die from something.
This something usually has a strong correlation to those decisions.
The guy had a great go of it made millions off the game and was adored by a city for 20 plus years.