The Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame has publicly apologized for wrongly asserting the dying of former NFL star Lem Barney.
NFL.com reported on Saturday, November 29, that the Corridor of Fame rescinded an e mail despatched earlier that day asserting Barney’s dying at age 80. In response to that preliminary e mail, the NFL confirmed that it errantly printed an obituary for the Detroit Lions cornerback and returns specialist.
Dave Birkett, a reporter for the Detroit Free Press, revealed by way of X on Saturday that Lem remains to be alive after talking with the athlete’s son, Lem Barney III. Lem III advised the reporter that he’d most lately seen his dad for Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 27.
“[Lem III] began getting messages asking about his dad final evening [Friday, November 28],” Birkett wrote. “He stated he talked to Lem’s nurse in the present day, had her ship a selfie, heard his voice within the background. ‘He’s good … He’s alive.’”
In response to Birkett, this unlucky incident was significantly upsetting for the Barneys as a result of it was the second time this 12 months that they needed to tackle “false rumors” about Lem’s dying.
“[Lem III] stated it occurred after the flood in Texas earlier this 12 months. ‘It’s just like the boy who cried wolf s*** now,’” the journalist wrote by way of X.
In the meantime, the Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame defined that its incorrect dying announcement was made after consulting with “media sources related to the Detroit Lions.”
“Primarily based on conflicting data concerning the reported passing of Lem Barney, the Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame is rescinding the e-mail despatched earlier in the present day,” the Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame stated in an announcement. “The Corridor has not been capable of verify such information independently. Please settle for our apology.”
NFL and Detroit Lions Corridor of Fame participant Lem Barney in December 2016. Leon Halip/Getty Photos
Lem Sr. performed 11 seasons within the NFL, all for the Detroit Lions. He acquired quite a few accolades in his esteemed profession, together with profitable NFL Defensive Rookie of the Yr in 1967 and making the NFL Nineteen Sixties All-Decade Crew.
The athlete made it to the Professional Bowl seven occasions all through his profession and was named as a first-team All-Professional participant in 1968 and 1969. He was inducted into the Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame in 1992.
After retiring from the gridiron, Lem Sr. ventured into the leisure trade. He was an in depth pal of late singer Marvin Gaye and even contributed background vocals to his 1971 basic “What’s Going On,” based on ESPN.
The previous NFL star performed himself — alongside fellow iconic athletes Alex Karras, Sugar Ray Robinson and Frank Gifford — reverse Hollywood stars Alan Alda and Lauren Hutton within the 1968 sports activities comedy Paper Lion. He additionally joined fellow soccer stars “Imply” Joe Greene, Eugene “Mercury” Morris and Willie Lanier within the 1974 blaxploitation movie The Black Six.
Reba McEntire is singing Dolly Parton’s praises after the nation music legend responded to a dying hoax. “You inform ‘em, Dolly. All that AI mess has obtained us doing all types of loopy issues,” McEntire, 70, shared by way of Instagram on Thursday, October 9. “You’re on the market dying. I’m out right here having a child. Effectively each […]
Lem Sr. later labored as an analyst for BET’s faculty soccer protection and was a pre-game host for his outdated workforce, the Detroit Lions, within the Eighties, reported the Detroit Free Press. He mirrored on his NFL profession and life off the sector within the 2006 memoir, The Supernatural: Lem Barney.
Lem Sr. and his late spouse, Martha, reportedly tied the knot throughout the Lions’ low season in 1967 and later welcomed two youngsters: a daughter, LaTrece Barney, and a son, Lemuel “Lem” Barney III. Following Marth’s dying, Lem Sr. married his second spouse, Jacqueline Barney.
