DETROIT, december 7 —Matthew Stafford ( injury) Hughes of the Detroit Lions injured today during the final seconds of a National Football League game.
Hughes, a 28-year-old wide receiver (offensive end), caught a ball with less than two minutes left in the game against the Chicago Bears. After trotting back to the huddle three plays later, he collapsed. It was his first pass reception of the season.
Hughes is thought to be the first professional football player to pass out during a game and die before regaining consciousness. His death was the sixth in professional football due to a gamerelated illness or injury.
Chicago linebacker Dick Butkus was the first to approach him and summoned the Lions’ physicians from the sidelines.
Dr. Richard Thompson and Dr. Edwin Guise arrived at Hughes’ bedside, where he lay unmoving. Before Hughes was placed on a stretcher, Dr. Guise performed mouthtomouth resuscitation and Dr. Thompson performed external heart massage
The startling development had Lions players in tears in the team locker room. Some grumbled, “He’s dead, he’s dead.” Hughes was pronounced dead at 4:41 p.m. at Henry Ford Hospital, where he was transferred.
Dr. Thompson believes Hughes died as a result of a ruptured major vessel in the aorta, heart, or brain. The aorta is a huge artery that transports blood from the heart to nearly every region of the body.
“I just talked to the hospital, and they pronounced him dead,” Dr. Thompson stated outside the Detroit locker room. “We thought we had him when we got it [his heart] going again, but…” he couldn’t go on.
Dr. Thompson stated that an autopsy would be performed the following day.
Hughes, Larry Walton’s backup, joined the game with about 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter when Walton was injured.
Following his grab, three incomplete passes occurred that did not include Hughes.
“He came back into the hud dle and everyone said they didn’t notice anything different about him,” the Lions’ publicity director, Lyall Smith, said
“They called the next play,” he explained.
It was the final huddle for Hughes, one of 13 children born on March 23, 1943 in Philadelphia. He had a son who was 23 months old.
Hughes’ wife, Sharon, was among the first to arrive at the hospital, and others of the Lions’ team followed shortly after.
Dr. Guise stated that a team of doctors attempted to resuscitate Hughes at the hospital. “I’ve never seen anything like it in professional football,” Dr. Guise stated
Mack Lee Hill, a Kansas City Chiefs fullback who died in 1965, was the most recent pro football death
Hill tore his knee ligaments in a game versus Buffalo. Two days later, he underwent surgery and died of what a club spokeswoman described as “a sudden and massive embolism after surgery.”
Dave Sparks of the Washington Redskins died in 1964; Stan Mauldin of the now-defunct Chicago Cardinals died in 1948; Howard Glenn, a guard for the New York Titans (later the Jets), died in 1960; and Stone Johnson, a runback specialist for the Kansas City Chiefs, died in a 1963 preseason game after suffering a broken neck.
Hughes was picked by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1967 out of Texas El Paso. The Eagles employed him as a reserve for three years until trading him to the Lions for a draft pick before the 1970 season.
Hughes saw minimal play last season, catching eight catches for 168 yards, a pro career high. Last Thanksgiving Day, one of his receptions proved decisive in a victory over the Oakland Raiders.
Hughes, who stood 6 feet tall and weighed 180 pounds, lived in Sheridan, Texas, and worked in a bank during the off season. He was a two-year member of the All Texas first team at Texas El Paso and captained the club as a senior.
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