Packers great Wood dies at 83

Willie Wood, the Hall of Fame defensive back who won five NFL championships with the Green Bay Packers under coach Vince Lombardi and made the first interception in Super Bowl history, died at 83.

Wood died of natural causes in Washington, according to Robert Schmidt, his longtime friend and former teammate at USC. Wood had suffered from advanced dementia.

After being undrafted out of USC, Wood sent postcards to several NFL teams seeking a tryout. He signed as a free agent with the Packers and played safety from 1960 to 1971.

Wood had a key interception in the first Super Bowl, returning it 50 yards to set up a thirdquarter touchdown that sealed the Packers’ 3510 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in 1967.

Wood had a 31yard punt return in the second Super Bowl that stood as a record for 16 years. The Packers beat the Oakland Raiders 3314 in the 1968 title game.

The Detroit Lions signed free agent guard Josh Garnett, a former 49ers firstround pick.

The Atlanta Falcons cut ties with outside linebacker Vic Beasley, who led the NFL in sacks in 2016 in the team’s run to the Super Bowl but didn’t come close to that over the past three seasons. Beasley, 27, will become an unrestricted free agent when the new league year begins March 18. Basketball: Joe Ellis, a threetime West Coast Athletic Conference first team honoree and 196465 NCAA Tournament allWest Region honoree, will have his No. 31 retired by USF on Feb. 22 when the Dons play Pepperdine at War Memorial. Ellis becomes the seventh USF men’s basketball player to have his number retired, joining Bill Russell (6), K.C. Jones (4), Mike Farmer (17), Phil Smith (20), Bill Cartwright (24) and Ollie Johnson (32).