mbcube
06-12-2008, 03:08 PM
http://www.buffalonews.com/258/story/368407.html
Mitch Frerotte, a backup offensive lineman on three Buffalo Bills Super Bowl teams in the early 1990s, has died after being stricken in his mother's home in his hometown of Kittanning, Pa., about an hour northeast of Pittsburgh.
Frerotte died Wednesday evening, possibly after suffering a heart attack, authorities said today.
Kittanning police responded to a 5:30 p.m. 911 call from Frerotte's mother's home, just a block away from his own home. Emergency personnel started CPR at the scene. Frerotte was taken to Armstrong County Memorial Hospital, but he was pronounced dead there.
"The coroner believes that it was some sort of heart problem, but an official autopsy result has not been released," Kittanning Police Officer Donald Blose said today. "He was complaining to his family about not feeling well about a week prior to this."
Frerotte played for the Bills in 1987 and from 1990 through 1992, mostly as a backup offensive lineman and special-teams standout. During his four-year career here, he played in 58 games, starting three of them. He also caught two touchdown passes, both in 1992, in a formation where he lined up as a tight end.
The Bills went to the Super Bowl in his last three years here. Following the 1992 season, he left for the Seattle Seahawks, but neck problems prevented him from ever playing a down there.
Frerotte was considered a character, with his long blond hair, burly physique, painted face and stated plans to become a professional wrestler.
Former Buffalo News sports reporter Vic Carucci, in a 1990 profile on the colorful Frerotte, wrote that on game day, Frerotte looked like a professional wrestler who had gotten lost on his way to the arena.
"There's the long blond hair," he wrote. "There's the goatee. And, of course, there's the paint. The black paint that goes around his right eye, juts down his cheek and forms a point just above his jaw..."
"Frerotte considers it war paint," he added.
In that profile, Frerotte explained the on-field image he had cultivated.
"In this game, I can be as free-spirited as I want," Frerotte said. "Guys who are doctors, lawyers, businessmen, whatever, they can't be that way. They have to have a certain kind of image. But in football, it's a matter of who's sicker out on the field on Sunday. And I have the opportunity to just be crazy and nuts.
"I'll worry about having a straighter image when I get a real job," he added.
At the time of his death, authorities said Frerotte was helping coach some local youth football teams in his hometown.
Mitch Frerotte, a backup offensive lineman on three Buffalo Bills Super Bowl teams in the early 1990s, has died after being stricken in his mother's home in his hometown of Kittanning, Pa., about an hour northeast of Pittsburgh.
Frerotte died Wednesday evening, possibly after suffering a heart attack, authorities said today.
Kittanning police responded to a 5:30 p.m. 911 call from Frerotte's mother's home, just a block away from his own home. Emergency personnel started CPR at the scene. Frerotte was taken to Armstrong County Memorial Hospital, but he was pronounced dead there.
"The coroner believes that it was some sort of heart problem, but an official autopsy result has not been released," Kittanning Police Officer Donald Blose said today. "He was complaining to his family about not feeling well about a week prior to this."
Frerotte played for the Bills in 1987 and from 1990 through 1992, mostly as a backup offensive lineman and special-teams standout. During his four-year career here, he played in 58 games, starting three of them. He also caught two touchdown passes, both in 1992, in a formation where he lined up as a tight end.
The Bills went to the Super Bowl in his last three years here. Following the 1992 season, he left for the Seattle Seahawks, but neck problems prevented him from ever playing a down there.
Frerotte was considered a character, with his long blond hair, burly physique, painted face and stated plans to become a professional wrestler.
Former Buffalo News sports reporter Vic Carucci, in a 1990 profile on the colorful Frerotte, wrote that on game day, Frerotte looked like a professional wrestler who had gotten lost on his way to the arena.
"There's the long blond hair," he wrote. "There's the goatee. And, of course, there's the paint. The black paint that goes around his right eye, juts down his cheek and forms a point just above his jaw..."
"Frerotte considers it war paint," he added.
In that profile, Frerotte explained the on-field image he had cultivated.
"In this game, I can be as free-spirited as I want," Frerotte said. "Guys who are doctors, lawyers, businessmen, whatever, they can't be that way. They have to have a certain kind of image. But in football, it's a matter of who's sicker out on the field on Sunday. And I have the opportunity to just be crazy and nuts.
"I'll worry about having a straighter image when I get a real job," he added.
At the time of his death, authorities said Frerotte was helping coach some local youth football teams in his hometown.