Miami Dolphins class of ’91 loses Chuck Klingbeil

The Miami Dolphins have lost another alumni at a far too young age but it brings up questions about the players from the 1991 team as Chuck Klingbeil passes away.

Miami Dolphins alumni found out yesterday that former Dolphins defensive tackle Chuck Klingbeil passed away and today learned that it was a result of a heart attack. He was only 52 years old. Three years older than me.

The 1991 team is in and of itself a case study. Klingbeil becomes the eight member of that team to pass away at a young age. Why are so many from that season dying so young? There are no answers and there may never be an answer.

Klingbeil was never a household name but he has a legendary mark in Dolphins history. Klingbeil recovered what would be the game winning fumble for a touchdown against Green Bay to mark Don Shula‘s 300th win.

Klingbeil would only play for the Dolphins until 1995 after a five-year career with the team. He had been poached from the CFL. Now he is another stat on a curious 1991 team. The Dolphins were 8-8 that season, coming off a 12-4 season in 1990 and a year before an 11-5 season. It was an off-year.

Four total defensive lineman have passed from that season. T.J. Turner died following a stroke at the age of 46 in 2009. Shawn Lee died at the age of 44 from a heart attack in 2011 and Alfred Oglesby died of the same at the age of 42 in 2009.

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The defense wasn’t the only ones suffering. In 2010 offensive lineman Harry Galbreath passed away from a heart attack and punter Reggie Roby died at the age of 43 in 2005 from unknown causes. In 2010 Jarvis Williams died from an asthma attack at the age of 45.

In 1995 the Dolphins lost linebacker David Griggs who played on the 1991 team in a car accident.

Throughout the NFL players are losing their lives as young middle-aged men. Results of the bodies wear and tear from playing the sport or perhaps CTE complications? Is performance enhancing drugs part of the problem during a time when they were rarely if ever tasted for? Or could the culprit be years of prescription and pain-killer use? More likely a combination of all of them in some form.

Oddly it is not relegated to the players. In 1991 Elizabeth Robbie, the wife of team founder Joe Robbie passed away, a year after her husband.

Klingbeil is the latest and sadly not likely the last. To read about the reactions and concerns from other players who remember him, check out this great article by Dave Hyde. Our thoughts are with Klingbeil’s family. May they and he find peace.