We knew of him growing up. I have a brother that played high school football against him. He was huge and chiseled even at that age. A man among boys literally.
At a district track meet he set the Oregon State record for the Javelin at something like 260'. Probably still stands.
From a rural Or. town of Pleasant Hill.



Got drafted by the Patriots. Played several years. Retired. Came back and won a Super bowl ring with SF.

Had been in the small aviation business for decades.


70 years old. God Speed Russ.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: old rugged cross,

Sad to hear. I remember the player well. Great player and good guy as far as I heard.

He was one of my favorite players with the 80's Niner teams.
He was a multi-sport kinda-guy, he spent quite a few years in Hawaii.
RIP Russ

Also killed was Richard McSpadden, a senior VP in Aircraft Owners and Pilot's Assocation (AOPA), retired AF and former Thunderbird lead. I've read conflicting reports of who was pilot in command.

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-...of-richard-mcspadden

https://www.lakeplacidnews.com...owed-engine-failure/

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sigmund,

That is sad news. Losing McSpadden is a huge loss to AOPA.

Wow, sorry to hear about this and the AOPA fellow. I've read many of his articles. Sad day...

NTSB prelim is out, no cause yet. Note that McSpadden was flying with basic med.

NTSB Releases Preliminary Report on McSpadden Accident

The Cessna Cardinal attempted to return to the airport but did not make it to the runway.

By Meg Godlewski
October 20, 2023

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its preliminary report on the accident that killed AOPA vice president of safety Richard McSpadden Jr. and former NFL tight end turned FBO owner Russ Francis. The pair died on October 1 in Lake Placid, New York.

McSpadden, 63, and Francis, 70, were flying a Cessna 177RG that belonged to Lake Placid Air Service. The purpose of the flight, where McSpadden was in the right seat, was a photo mission for AOPA magazine. Both men held commercial pilot certificates. Per company procedure for photo flights, the pilot/owner (Francis) was to fly the airplane during the takeoff, climbout and landing, and after joining up in formation, the pilot-rated passenger (McSpadden) would have taken over the controls and flown the airplane as the photo shoots require formation flying. McSpadden, a former member of the Air Force Thunderbirds, had decades of experience as a formation pilot...

Complete article and prelim:

https://www.flyingmag.com/ntsb...-mcspadden-accident/

Prelim only:

https://flyingmag.sfo3.digital..._2023-3_15_21-PM.pdf