Dale Earnhardt

Sports Tragedies

Toward the end of the 2001 Daytona 500, Earnhardt and Ken Schrader slid off the track. Schrader was able to get out of his car and immediately signaled for the emergency unit to help Earnhardt. A few hours later, NASCAR president Mike Helton made the official announcement that Earnheardt had passed away. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

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Corey Lidle Lidle was piloting his private airplane on a foggy day in New York City when he crashed into a high-rise apartment building. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

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Pat Tillman Forgoing an NFL career and the salary that comes with it, Tillman made the ultimate sacrifice when he became an Army Ranger. Tillman was killed by friendly fire in 2004. (AP Photo/Matt York)

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Dan Snyder After an accident in which teammate Danny Heatley's car crashed into a wall, Snyder passed away after being in a coma for six days in 2003. (AP Photo/Alan Mothner)

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Korey Stringer In 2001, Stringer collapsed and later died of complications from heat stroke during Vikings training camp. (AP Photo/Tom Olmscheid)

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Florence Griffit... An epileptic seizure caused the gold medal winning track star to suffocate in her sleep in 1998. (AP photo/Rusty Kennedy)

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Reggie Lewis In 1993, Lewis collapsed and died on the court while playing for the Celtics. (AP Photo/fls)

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Dale Earnhardt Toward the end of the 2001 Daytona 500, Earnhardt and Ken Schrader slid off the track. Schrader was able to get out of his car and immediately signaled for the emergency unit to help Earnhardt. A few hours later, NASCAR president Mike Helton made the official announcement that Earnheardt had passed away. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

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Davey Allison After purchasing a new helicopter, Allison was picking up a friend en route to Talladega Superspeedway when his inexperience caught up with him and the helicopter crashed. Allison was able to be pulled from the wreckage, but died the next day. (AP Photo/Mark Foley)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.