RIP Russ Francis

[Baron Scicluna]

Former Patriots and 49ers tight end who was on the 1984 49ers Super Bowl champions died in a plane crash in Lake Placid.

His father also was a pro wrestler and a promoter and Russ wrestled a number of years back when NFL players had off-season jobs. He also was in the WrestleMania 2 battle royal with other WWF wrestlers and several other NFL stars, most prominent lot Refrigerator Perry and Bill Fralic. RIP

Russ Francis, former NFL great from Hawaii, dies in plane crash

 

[Smallpotatoes]

He was my favorite Patriot when I was a kid. I remember Howard Cosell called him All-World.

I also remember hearing that he held the national high school javelin record, beating Terry Bradshaw’s mark.

 

[outofplace]

Former Patriots and 49ers tight end who was on the 1984 49ers Super Bowl champions died in a plane crash in Lake Placid.

His father also was a pro wrestler and a promoter and Russ wrestled a number of years back when NFL players had off-season jobs. He also was in the WrestleMania 2 battle royal with other WWF wrestlers and several other NFL stars, most prominent lot Refrigerator Perry and Bill Fralic. RIP

Russ Francis, former NFL great from Hawaii, dies in plane crash

I remember watching him with the 49ers. I also remember seeing him in that WrestleMania 2 battle royal and wondering what he was doing there because I didn't know about his father. Perry made sense given his fame at the time, but Jimbo Covert and Bill Fralic weren't exactly huge names.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

I remember watching him with the 49ers. I also remember seeing him in that WrestleMania 2 battle royal and wondering what he was doing there because I didn't know about his father. Perry made sense given his fame at the time, but Jimbo Covert and Bill Fralic weren't exactly huge names.

They billed it somewhat as an open invitation battle royal which ended up being NFL vs. WWF. It held in Chicago, so Covert made sense as a hometown guy. Fralic was the second overall pick in the 1985 draft for the Falcons, so he was a bit of a name. He also actually showed a bit of a personality in leading up to the match.

Too Tall Jones and Harvey Martin were supposed to be in the event as a Dallas Cowboys defensive line tag team. But the Cowboys nixed Jones from getting in the ring because they didn’t want him to risk injury. Martin performed as he had already retired from the Cowboys, and Jones was a guest referee outside the ring. Ernie Holmes of the Steelers subbed for Jones. Holmes had done a little bit of wrestling and acting after retiring from the NFL.

 

[DanOregon]

He really was one of the first TEs I remember being a featured part of an offense. So said. Really rough week for Boston sports fans.

 

[outofplace]

They billed it somewhat as an open invitation battle royal which ended up being NFL vs. WWF. It held in Chicago, so Covert made sense as a hometown guy. Fralic was the second overall pick in the 1985 draft for the Falcons, so he was a bit of a name. He also actually showed a bit of a personality in leading up to the match.

Too Tall Jones and Harvey Martin were supposed to be in the event as a Dallas Cowboys defensive line tag team. But the Cowboys nixed Jones from getting in the ring because they didn’t want him to risk injury. Martin performed as he had already retired from the Cowboys, and Jones was a guest referee outside the ring. Ernie Holmes of the Steelers subbed for Jones. Holmes had done a little bit of wrestling and acting after retiring from the NFL.

I forgot that it was in Chicago. That explains Covert. Fralic made sense. He had the personality for it and he was a tremendous athlete. I completely forgot Holmes was in it. He had the sort of big personality that played well in a situation like that. I didn't know the story about Jones and Martin.

I definitely remember Francis having a good showing. He clearly had some idea of what he was doing. They went out of their way not to embarrass any of the football players, if I remember correctly.

 

[HappyCurmudgeon]

Francis had a nice little game in Super Bowl XIX, I think Roger Craig vultured all of the touchdowns though.

I also remember taking an incredible bump off of a headbutt from Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania 2. He tumbled all the way across the ring.

Sad. Looks like he was enjoying life after football with his other hobbies.

 

[micropolitan guy]

He played at a little Oregon high school, Pleasant Hill, before going to UO. Must have been an absolute beast at that level of competition.

 

[qtlaw]

When he came to the 49ers, while I had watched All-Pros like Ted Kwalick and Charlie Young, Francis was the modern TE, so smooth and yet powerful. He was fun to watch. Man this was a shock to see this. May he RIP.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

The other victim in the crash was Richard McSpadden, a former US Air Force Thunderbirds member and head of an institute for aviation safety.

 

[ChrisLong]

IIRC, sprinter Houston McTear hooked up with Francis' mom, who was much, much older than McTear.