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Orlando McDaniel, a former second-round pick of the Denver Broncos, died due to complications from the coronavirus, his family and friends said Saturday.
The former wide receiver was sick after traveling to Washington, D.C., to visit a relative, LSU track and field coach Dennis Shaver told ESPN. McDaniel had spent the last several years as the coach of the North Texas Cheetahs track team, which he founded in 2003, according to CBS Dallas.
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“I see that everybody else is showing me love and it just makes me feel so much better, especially seeing the way that he impacted the community,” McDaniels’ daughter Alexis told CBS Dallas. “I can see how much my dad really meant not just to DFW, but to the country.”
She added: “It was sad just knowing that I can’t get a hug from him anymore. He loved fatherly love and father-daughter time.”
McDaniel, 59, was a former two-sport star at LSU before he decided to try his luck in the NFL. The Broncos selected McDaniel with the No. 50 pick of the 1982 draft. He played one season with the Broncos.
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On the track, he was an SEC champion in the 110-meter hurdles and finished in second place in the same event at the 1980 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
“He was such a tremendous athlete in both sports, but the love he had for track and field was really special,” Shaver told ESPN. “We’re fortunate that people like him get involved with our youth.
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“He was one of the most important people in our sport. He had to persuade youth to spend their summers doing something productive. Orlando had essentially dedicated his life to it. They’d come to summer meets and have two busloads full of people. It was a real impressive group of people. He’s sorely going to be missed.”
