When motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel died a few weeks ago, it was definitely the loss of a true original.

Knievel, 69, could have — should have — died a million deaths the way he would continually put his life at risk, trying to jump everything from the Snake River Canyon in Idaho to the fountains at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas to a row of buses.

You name it and he probably jumped it. Or would have died trying. Nearly 40 broken bones. A coma. I even read his stays in the hospitals totaled three years of his life.

His passing took me back to my childhood when Knievel was a larger than life presence. In grade school, we would talk about his exploits, things we saw on television Saturday afternoon on ABC's "Wide World of Sports."

His son, Robbie followed in his father's footsteps and successfully cleared the fountains atCaesar's Palace in 1989. Knievel had done so, too, in 1968, but his crash landing resulted in a month-long coma.

The Snake River Canyon jump in 1974 was also the stuff of legends, trying to use a 'Skycycle', a rocket-powered motorcycle. It might have worked, but the parachute shot out prematurely and he landed safely inside the canyon below, just missing the water.

I can't even imagine someone doing anything like that today. If someone would try, I don't know if it would generate the buzz as it did in the 1970s.

That was a unique era, perhaps the last of a dying breed — no pun intended.

I don't have much recollection of team sports in grade school. I don't remember the Pirates until about 1976 when I started collecting baseball cards and I don't remember the Steelers until Super Bowl X in January of 1976 (the 1975 season). Even that is a little hazy.

I knew some of the players before then, but didn't recall the entire team concept.

But three athletes in the early 1970s my friends and I would talk about stood out the most — Knievel, NASCAR's Richard Petty and boxing great Muhammad Ali.

Knievel was, well, Knievel. We used to have that toy that you cranked up with a figure on a motorcycle, then let it fly and it would hurl forward and jump over any obstacle you put in front of it.

Much like Knievel.

Petty finished his career with 200 career victories and stood out over all the other racing icons of the time. His total will never be surpassed, especially with the competitiveness and talent level of today's NASCAR drivers.

Ali was, and in his own words, 'the greatest." We would all imitate him, talk like him. He even had his own Saturday morning cartoon show.

I never believed in hero worship or idolizing a player or person, even as a child, but those three truly were standout characters.

I believe in today's team-oriented ideals. I always have, but those three stood out alone with the likes we'll never see again.

Sam Tallarico is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.