Ex-Giants LB Van Pelt dead at 57
OWOSSO, Mich. — Brad Van Pelt, a five-time Pro Bowl player with the New York Giants who helped form one of the NFL's best linebacking corps in the early 1980s, has died. He was 57.
Van Pelt was found dead Tuesday by his fiancee at his home, the Giants said Wednesday. He died from an apparent heart attack, the team said.
A second-round draft choice out of Michigan State in 1973, Van Pelt played 14 seasons in the NFL, 11 with the Giants. Although he played on only one winning team in New York, he made five straight Pro Bowls from 1976-1980.
Van Pelt's only winning season with the Giants came in 1981, when Lawrence Taylor was drafted. Van Pelt played strong side linebacker with Taylor on the weak side and Harry Carson and Brian Kelley in the middle of a group called the "Crunch Bunch."
