[CBFF] "Ironhead" dead of cancer at 39

[Jerry Madsen]

"Ironhead" dead of cancer at 39
Heyward rushed for 4,301 yards in 11-year NFL career

May 27, 2006, 10:44 PM CDT

ATLANTA -- Craig "Ironhead" Heyward had hoped to survive a 7 1/2-year
fight with a recurring brain tumor long enough to share Senior Night
with his son, Cameron, who plays football and basketball at Peachtree
Ridge High.

The football coach, Blair Armstrong, said Saturday that he had been
"contemplating moving Senior Night to the first game"—an occasion that
normally comes closer to the end of the season for most schools.

It spoke volumes about Heyward's increasing fragile health. In the end
the wish wasn't to be. The former NFL star fullback for 11 seasons,
who played for the Bears in 1993, died Saturday. He was 39.

Heyward earned Pro Bowl status in 1995, when he rushed for a
career-high 1,083 yards with the Atlanta Falcons. He first gained fame
as a bruising back for the New Orleans Saints and also played for the
Indianapolis Colts.

"Craig Heyward truly ranks among the all-time greats in Pitt football
history," Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said in a statement.

Wannstedt, who coached Heyward on the Bears, said, "I will always
remember him as a tremendous player who had an irrepressible attitude
on and off the field. We spoke just a few weeks ago and I was struck
by the typical upbeat Ironhead attitude he displayed despite his
health."

Given the severity of Heyward's tumor, known as a chordoma, and the
inability of surgeons to completely remove it, his death was not
unexpected. Heyward also suffered a stroke a few years ago that left
him partially paralyzed.

But friends who had visited recently with Heyward, including ex-NFL
quarterback Bobby Hebert, a former teammate in both New Orleans and
Atlanta, certainly did not expect his death to come so quickly.

Hebert told ESPN.com two weeks ago that he was apprised that the tumor
had wrapped itself around Heyward's brain, that further surgical
attempts were not planned and that Heyward likely would survive
another three to five years.

"The one thing he's still got and that hasn't changed a bit," Hebert
said at the time, "is that devilish sense of humor of his. Hopefully
that will keep him going for a while."

Armstrong said he often talked to Heyward when he came to see his son play.

"He wasn't real mobile, but he'd been rehabbing," Armstrong said. "He
thought he might walk again. But once he lost his hearing and his
sight, his organs started shutting down."

Born in Passaic, N.J., in 1966, Heyward ran for 4,301 yards in his NFL
career and had 1,559 yards receiving.

Copyright (c) 2006, The Chicago Tribune


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