Darlene Hard (1936-2021)
Dec 2 American tennis player (US C'ships 1960-61, French C'ships 1960; 18 Grand Slam doubles titles), dies at 85
- Dec 3 Claude Humphrey, American Pro Football HOF defensive end (6 × Pro Bowl, 5 × First-team All-Pro Atlanta Falcons; Philadelphia Eagles), dies at 77
- Dec 3 Horst Eckel, German soccer wing half (32 caps West Germany, 1954 FIFA World Cup; 1. FC Kaiserslautern, SV Röchling Völklingen), dies at 89
- Dec 3 Momčilo Vukotić, Serbian soccer midfielder (14 caps, Yugoslavia; FC Partizan, FC Bordeaux) and manager (Cyprus, PAOK, Partizan), dies from throat cancer at 71
- Dec 4 Eileen Ash-Whelan, English cricket medium pace bowler (7 WTests, 10 wickets, BB 4/68; Middlesex CC), dies at 110
- Dec 5 Bill Glass, American College Football HOF defensive end (Baylor University; 4 x Pro Bowl Cleveland Browns; Detroit Lions), dies at 86
- Dec 5 Gary Callander, Scottish rugby union hooker (6 caps; South of Scotland RFC), dies from pancreatic cancer at 62
- Dec 8 Jacques Zimako, French soccer forward (13 caps; Saint-Étienne, Sochaux, Bastia), dies at 69
- Dec 8 Lars Høgh, Danish soccer goalkeeper (8 caps; OB 603 games) and GK coach (Denmark, Brøndby IF), dies from pancreatic cancer at 62
Al Unser (1939-2021)
Dec 9 American auto racer (Indianapolis 500 1970-71, 78, 87), dies of cancer at 82
- Dec 9 Brian Aldridge, New Zealand cricket umpire (26 Tests, 45 ODIs), dies at 81
- Dec 9 Demaryius Thomas, American football wide receiver (Super Bowl 2015; 4 × Pro Bowl; Denver Broncos), dies at 33
- Dec 9 Speedy Duncan, American football cornerback (Pro Bowl 1971; AFL All-Star 1965, 66, 67; SD Chargers, Washington Redskins), dies at 79
- Dec 11 Dennis Ward, Australian rugby league halfback (6 Tests; Canterbury- Bankstown RLFC, Manly RLFC), dies at 74
- Dec 11 Manuel Santana, Spanish tennis player (French Open 1961, 64; Wimbledon 1966; US Open 1965; French Open doubles 1963), dies at 83
- Dec 12 Roland Hemond, American baseball executive (GM Chicago White Sox 1970–85; Baltimore Orioles 1988–95), dies at 92
- Dec 12 Yury Sharov, Russian fencer (Olympic gold Soviet Union, team foil 1964, silver 1968), dies at 82
- Dec 15 Hans Küppers, German soccer midfielder (7 caps, West Germany; TSV 1860 Munich, 1. FC Nürnberg), dies at 82
- Dec 15 Len Hauss, American football center (5 x Pro Bowl; Washington Redskins), dies at 79
- Dec 16 Bill Mahoney, Canadian ice hockey coach (NHL: Minnesota North Stars 1983-85), dies at 82
- Dec 16 Taniela Moa, Tongan rugby union halfback (20 caps; Auckland Blues, Section Paloise RUFC), dies at 36
- Dec 17 Dimitrios Stefanakos, Greek soccer defender (7 caps; Olympiacos FC), dies at 85
- Dec 17 Harry Jacobs, American football linebacker (AFL All Star 1965, 69; AFL C'ship 1964, 65 Buffalo Bills; Boston Patriots, NO Saints), dies at 84
- Dec 20 Kimera Bartee, American MLB outfielder.1996-2001 (Detroit Tigers, and 2 other teams), and coach, 2017-21 (Pittsburgh Pirates, and 2 other teams), dies of an undiagnosed brain tumor at 49
- Dec 21 (Wilbert) Billy Davis, American tennis player (11 x American Tennis Association Titles), dies of congestive heart failure at 91
- Dec 22 Bob Keselowski, American auto racer (ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series 1989) and team owner (K Automotive Racing), dies from cancer at 70
- Dec 23 Bob McCammon, Canadian ice hockey coach (Philadelphia Fllyers 1978-84, Vancouver Canucks 1987-91), dies at 80
- Dec 24 José Villegas, Mexican soccer defender (6 caps; CD Guadalajara), dies at 87
- Dec 24 Raúl Madero, Argentine soccer defender (5 caps; Estudiantes) and sports physician (Argentina national team), dies at 82
- Dec 24 Willibert Kremer, German soccer coach (MSV Duisburg, Bayer Leverkusen, 1860 Munich, Fortuna Düsseldorf), dies at 82
- Dec 25 John Gleeson, Australian rugby league five eighth (10 Tests; Queensland 25 games; Wynnum-Manly, Brothers RLFC), dies at 82
- Dec 25 Ray Illingworth, English cricket spin bowler and captain (61 Tests, 122 wickets, 1,836 runs @ 23.24; Yorkshire CCC, Leicestershire CCC), dies at 89
- Dec 26 Dorval Rodrigues, Brazilian soccer right winger (13 caps; Santos FC, SE Palmeiras), dies at 86
John Madden (1936-2021)
Dec 28 American Pro Football HOF coach (Oakland Raiders 1969-78; Super Bowl 1976) and sportscaster (16 x Emmy Award winner; CBS, FOX, ABC, NBC; Madden NFL video games), dies at 85 [1]
- Dec 28 Nikolay Shirshov, Uzbekistani soccer defensive midfielder (64 caps; FC Pakhtakor Tashkent, FC Rostov), dies at 47
- Dec 29 Antoine Bonifaci, French soccer midfielder (12 caps; OGC Nice, FC Inter Milan, Bologna FC, Torino FC), dies at 90
- Dec 30 Karel Loprais, Czech rally driver (Dakar Rally truck category 1988, 94, 95, 98, 99, 2001), dies from COVID-19 at 72
- Dec 30 Sam Jones, American College/Basketball HOF guard (North Carolina Central Uni; 10 × NBA C'ships; NBA All-Star 1962, 64–66, 68; Boston Celtics), dies at 88
- Dec 31 Billy Turner Jr., American thoroughbred trainer (Triple Crown 1977 Seattle Slew), dies from prostate cancer at 81
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