Danny Frawley, Felicity Huffman, Chrissy Teigen
Tributes pour in for a football legend who lost his life in a car accident
The news that retired AFL star and media personality Danny Frawley passed away a day after his 56th birthday when his car hit a tree east of Ballarat, Victoria, around 1.30pm on September 9, has been met with a flood of tributes from the grieving football community and stunned fans.
“How do we make sense of the shock passing of Danny Frawley,” tweeted Collingwood player and coach Tony Shaw. “A respected competitor, a loyal and eversupportive assistant but more importantly, a bloody good bloke and friend.”
Frawley, known as ‘Spud’ for his early days as a Ballarat potato farmer, captained the St Kilda Saints, for whom he played as fullback. He hung up his boots in 1995 and moved into coaching, first with Collingwood before landing the senior coaching position at Richmond, and went on to hold prominent media roles with Fox Footy, Triple M and SEN. In addition to his football prowess, Frawley had also been a mental health ambassador since he suffered a self-declared “mental breakdown” in 2014.
“Manning up in the past was to suffer in silence,” he recently told the Herald Sun’s Sacked podcast. “Manning up now is to put your hand up. I have got no problem talking about mental health and what I went through because I hope I help a lot of people in that.”
Frawley is survived by his wife Anita and daughters Chelsea, Danielle and Keeley. “Sad beyond sad. Worse now for his family,” tweeted former Victorian premier, Hawthorn president and Beyond Blue founder Jeff Kennett. “My thoughts are with them and so sad we could not save Spud. He will be missed.”
If you or someone you know needs help, contact Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.