November 27, 2011: The Tragedy of Gary Speed

Note the White Rose of the House of York,

still the symbol of Yorkshire, on Leeds' badge.

November 27, 2011: Gary Speed, the Welsh soccer star who became one of Britain's greatest TV studio analysts for the sport, takes his own life. He was 42 years old.

Gary Andrew Speed was born on September 8, 1969 in Mancot, Flintshire, Wales. He grew up on the street where Kevin Ratcliffe, then captain of Liverpool-based team Everton Football Club, lived. As Liverpool is near Wales, many people in the Principality support Everton, and many others support Liverpool FC. Also from Wales, and on the great Everton teams of the 1980s, were goalkeeper Neville Southall and left back Pat Van Den Hauwe. So was midfielder Barry Horne, a star (along with Southall) of their 1995 FA Cup winners.

A midfielder, with pace to match his name, Speed was signed by Yorkshire club Leeds United, and helped them win the Football League Division One title in 1992 -- the last title under the old banner, before the English top flight became known as the Premier League.

In 1996, he was sold to the club he loved growing up, Everton. A year later, Howard Wilkinson, his manager at Leeds, became his manager again, but their relationship soured. In 1998, he was sold to Newcastle United, and helped them reach the FA Cup Final that year (although they lost to North London team Arsenal) and the next (losing to Man United). In 2002, he helped Newcastle qualify for the UEFA Champions League.

He was sold to Lancashire team Bolton Wanderers in 2004, and stayed with them until 2008. They sold him to Yorkshire team Sheffield United, and he played the last 2 seasons of his career with them. He scored 104 goals in his career, and was known for scoring with headers.

He appeared 85 times for the Wales national team between 1990 and 2004, eventually serving as their Captain 44 times. Rarely troubled by injury or suspension, at the time of his retirement, he held the record for the most appearances in the Premier League at 535, until it was surpassed by David James; and only his Everton teammate Southall had made more appearances for Wales.

He retired as a player when Sheffield United named him manager. Only 4 months later, on December 11, 2010, he was named manager of his national team. As usual, Wales struggled, and by August 2011, they were ranked 117th in the world (out of 211 "nations" recognized by FIFA, the world's governing body for soccer). But 2 wins in the Autumn got them up to 45th.

Speed as Wales manager,

with one of his successors as team Captain,

Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal.

He married Louise in 1996, and had sons Tommy and Eddie. In 2010, he was awarded an MBE: Member of the Order of the British Empire.

On November 26, 2011, still manager of Wales, he appeared on the BBC One TV show Football Focus, and joined his former Newcastle United teammate Alan Shearer to watch that team play Manchester United, at Man U's Old Trafford. No one seemed to think anything was wrong.

The next day, Louise found him dead in the garage at their home in Huntington, Cheshire, England. He had hanged himself.

He seemed to have so much to look forward to, and so much respect among his peers, and so many friends. He didn't leave a suicide note, so no one really knows why he did it. It has been suggested that he was depressed. It is also possible that, with his reputation for heading the ball, he may have sustained brain damage, similar to American football players, and a few other British soccer stars. He was cremated, so there is no gravesite.

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November 27, 2011 was a Sunday. Baseball was out of season. These games were played in the NFL:

* The New York Jets beat the Buffalo Bills, 28-24 at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New England Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-20 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Minnesota Vikings, 24-14 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The Houston Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 20-13 at EverBank Field (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville.

* The Tennessee Titans beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 23-17 at LP Field (now Nissan Stadium) in Nashville.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat their arch-rivals, the Cleveland Browns, 23-20 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Carolina Panthers beat the Indianapolis Colts, 27-19 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the St. Louis Rams, 23-20 at the Edward Jones Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 13-9 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Denver Broncos beat the San Diego Chargers, 16-13 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Chicago Bears, 25-20 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (then named the Oracle Arena).

* The Washington Redskins beat the Seattle Seahawks, 23-17 at CenturyLink Field (now Lumen Field) in Seattle.

* Three days earlier, on Thanksgiving Day, the Green Bay Packers beat the Detroit Lions, 27-15 at Ford Field in Detroit; the Dallas Cowboys beat the Miami Dolphins, 20-19 at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas; and the Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers, 16-6 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* And on ESPN Monday Night Football, the New Orleans Saints beat the New York Giants, 49-24 at the Superdome.

The NBA team owners had locked the players out, and the season did not begin until Christmas Day. But there were 4 games played in the NHL:

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-3 at Scotiabank Place (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 2-1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Minnesota Wild, 5-2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* And the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Anaheim Ducks, 5-2 at the Honda Center in Anaheim.