NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hall of Fame receiver Pete Pihos, who earned six trips to the Pro Bowl during his nine-year career with the National Football League Philadelphia Eagles, died on Tuesday at age 87, the team said.
Pihos died in his sleep at a North Carolina nursing home after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease, the club said.
A member of Philadelphia's 1948 and 1949 championship teams, Pihos was an All-Pro selection five times.
He led the NFL in receptions three seasons in a row (1953-55), twice in yards (1953, 1955), and once in touchdowns (1953), and hauled in a game-winning touchdown catch in the 1949 NFL Championship game against the Rams.
A fifth-round draft choice by the Eagles out of Indiana in 1945, Pihos amassed 373 receptions for 6,519 yards and 61 touchdowns in his career, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1970.
(Writing by Larry Fine, Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)
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