Tom Dempsey, a legendary NFL kicker who was born without toes on his kicking foot, has tested positive for the coronavirus.
The 73-year-old former Saints kicker who once held the record for the longest field goal ever kicked in the NFL, is living in a retirement home in New Orleans and battling dementia. New Orleans has become a hotspot for the pandemic that’s spreading throughout the world, and Dempsey is one of several residents at the home who have contracted the disease.
“He’s a fighter,” Dempsey’s daughter Ashley explained about her father. “He’s been fighting his whole life.”
According to Pro Football Talk:
Dempsey signed with the Saints as an undrafted free agent in 1969 and is best remembered for his record-setting 63-yard field goal in 1969. The small flat shoe he kicked with is on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Although Dempsey played for the Eagles, Rams, Oilers and Bills after leaving the Saints, he retired to New Orleans and has lived there since.
Dempsey is not the only former Saints player to be hit by the virus. On Sunday, it was reported that former New Orleans quarterback Bobby Hebert lost his father to the disease.
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn
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