Walt Sweeney, Pro Bowl lineman who played 11 seasons for San Diego Chargers, dies at age 71
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Walt Sweeney, a standout offensive lineman for the San Diego Chargers in the 1960s and 1970s, has died at 71.
The Chargers website says Sweeney died of pancreatic cancer on Saturday.
Sweeney was a second-round pick out of Syracuse in the 1963 AFL draft, and stayed with the Chargers through the 1970 NFL merger. He was eventually named to the team's Hall of Fame.
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Sweeney played in either the AFL All-Star Game or the Pro Bowl nine straight seasons, and played in 181 consecutive games.
He spent 11 seasons with San Diego and two with the Washington Redskins.
In 1997, a judge ordered the NFL to pay Sweeney $1.8 million in disability after he claimed drugs his teams gave him made him an addict. The ruling was overturned on appeal.