Super Bowl champion Tony Siragusa, who went on to be a popular NFL broadcaster, is dead at 55.
The Kenilworth, N.J., native died suddenly Wednesday, according to a statement from Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti posted to the team’s Twitter feed.
“Goose,” as he was known around the league, spent nearly the second half of his 12 year NFL career in Baltimore after playing seven season with the Indianapolis Colts. He also served 12 years as a sideline analyst for Fox Network.
“He was a special person and clearly one of the most popular players in Ravens history,” Bisciotti wrote.
The 6-foot-3 defensive tackled weighed in at 340 pounds, which helped solidify a Ravens defense that topped the Giants 34-7 in Super Bowl XXXV after the 2000 season.
“There was no one like Goose,” Brian Billick, who coached that team, said in statement. “We would not have won the Super Bowl without him.”
Former Pro Bowl defensive back Rod Woodson played behind Siragusa on that 2001 Super Bowl team. He remembered Goose as being “always the life of the party.”
The cause of Siragusa’s Wednesday morning death has not been reported. Numerous outlets reported that he died is his sleep.
Siragusa played collegiately at the University of Pittsburgh, but a knee injury caused him to go undrafted coming out of school. He signed as a free agent with the Indianapolis Colts, recording career highs in tackles (88) and sacks (5) in 1994.
He then moved on to Baltimore, where he spent his final five seasons.
Siragusa was a hit as a sideline analyst for Fox from 2003-15. He also dabbled in acting, appearing as a Russian mobster in the 2002 Film “25th Hour” and playing Frankie Cortese in four episode of “The Sopranos.”
From 2007-16, he hosted the do-it-yourself show “Man Caves” on DIY Network.
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