On Monday evening, former University of Colorado football player and WWE wrestler, Leon White, known in the ring as Big Van Vader, died at age 63.
White's son announced his father's death over Twitter early this morning:
The California native was recruited by many schools as a top ranked center for football and ultimately joined the CU Buffaloes in 1973.
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He was a two-time All-American for the Buffs and was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the third round (80th overall). During his second season in the NFL, White played in Super Bowl XIV against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but fell short of a ring after the Rams fell 31-19.
After a few years in the NFL, White retired due to a knee injury and would eventually take up a career in professional wrestling in Japan in 1985. First known as "Baby Bull", White joined the United States wrestling scene in 1990 where he'd be known as "Big Van Vader" in WCW.
White became a world champion in the WCW and later moved to WWE (then known as WWF) in 1996. He continued his pro wrestling career for many years after until recently.
The world champion wrestler had heart surgery earlier this year and had been battling Pneumonia for the past month.
