Dempsey a victim of virus

Former kicker Tom Dempsey, who played in the NFL despite being born without toes on his kicking foot and made a record 63yard field goal, died late Saturday in New Orleans while struggling with complications from the new coronavirus, his daughter said. He was 73.

Ashley Dempsey said Sunday that her father, who has resided in an assisted living home for several years after being diagnosed with dementia, tested positive for the coronavirus a little more than a week ago.

Dempsey’s game-winning field goal against the Lions on Nov. 8, 1970, stood as an NFL record for 43 years until the Broncos’ Matt Prater broke it with a 64-yarder against the visiting Titans in 2013.

Dempsey spent 11 seasons in the NFL: his first two with the Saints (1969-70), the next four with the Eagles, then two with the Rams, one with the Oilers and the final two with the Bills. He retired after the 1979 season.

♦ Bobby Mitchell, the speedy offensive star of the late 1950s and 1960s who became the first black player for the Redskins (the last NFL team to integrate) in 1962 on the way to a Hall of Fame career, died. He was 84. No cause of death was given, but he had been ill since last fall. Mitchell split his career with the Browns (1958-61) and Redskins (1962-68) and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983.

Mitchell earned All-Big Ten honors for Illinois in 1955 and 1957 and was a track star at the school, which inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2019.

♦ Ed Biles, who coached the Oilers from 1981 to ’83, died of leukemia at age 88.

Coronavirus response

Colts owner Jim Irsay obtained more than 10,000 N95 masks and is donating them to the Indiana State Department of Health.

♦ Former NFL linebacker Chris Spielman, now a football broadcaster for Fox, is selling his memorabilia, with all proceeds going to people affected by the pandemic. His 1984 Big Ten championship ring he won at Ohio State fetched $12,000.