{"id":203774,"date":"2025-07-13T11:33:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T11:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/203774\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T11:33:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T11:33:13","slug":"tributes-paid-to-nfl-legend-after-his-death-aged-65-following-pro-bowl-career-as-wife-makes-emotional-announcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/203774\/","title":{"rendered":"Tributes paid to NFL legend after his death aged 65 following Pro-Bowl career as wife makes emotional announcement"},"content":{"rendered":"

NFL legend Luis Sharpe has died aged 65.<\/p>\n

The former Arizona Cardinal<\/a>‘s devastating passing was announced by wife Temeka on social media<\/a> on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\"Luis<\/a><\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

Luis Sharpe has died age 65Credit: Getty\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

Sharpe’s wife, Tameka, announced the news on social media<\/p>\n

On Facebook<\/a>, Tameka wrote: “With deep sorrow and abiding love, I share that my beloved husband, Luis Sharpe, has passed away.<\/p>\n

“His strength, love, and faith were a light to all who knew him. <\/p>\n

“I am grateful for every moment we shared and for the many prayers and kindnesses extended to our family.<\/p>\n

“Though my heart is heavy, I trust that Luis is now resting in God’s eternal peace. Please continue to keep our family lifted in prayer.”<\/p>\n

Former offensive tackle Sharpe spent 13 seasons in the NFL<\/a> with the Cardinals, earning a place at three Pro Bowls and becoming a fan favourite.<\/p>\n

Sharpe is considered by many to be the Cardinals’ greatest ever left tackle after playing in 189 games for the franchise.<\/p>\n

Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill paid tribute to the icon in a statement that read: “Throughout his lengthy and accomplished career with the Cardinals, Luis Sharpe exhibited an uncommon type of strength and toughness that made him so successful as a player.<\/p>\n

“Admirably, he would later demonstrate those same traits in dealing with the personal challenges he faced when his career was over. <\/p>\n

“We send our deepest condolences to all of those who loved Luis, in particular his family and former teammates.”<\/p>\n

Sharpe battled with alcohol and drug addiction in the years after he left the NFL.<\/p>\n

The retired star spent time in jail while be struggled for sobriety, ultimately announcing in 2024 that he was eight years sober.<\/p>\n

In the last years of his life Sharpe spent his time counseling patients at a Detroit sobriety clinic, as well as working with the NFL to help former players with their health post-retirement.<\/p>\n

Tributes from across the NFL have poured in following the announcement of his passing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NFL legend Luis Sharpe has died aged 65. The former Arizona Cardinal‘s devastating passing was announced by wife…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2078],"tags":[375,390,2604,1327,8071,7,6,578],"class_list":{"0":"post-203774","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arizona-cardinals","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-arizona-cardinals","10":"tag-arizonacardinals","11":"tag-cardinals","12":"tag-celebrity-deaths","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-section-sportamerican-football"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114845712940942735","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}