Larry Gordon was a former American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 linebacker who played seven seasons in the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 for the Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

. He was in the Dolphins' starting lineup from his rookie season until his death.

During his college football career at Arizona State he played alongside future All-American and Dallas Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...

 linebacker, Bob Breunig. Together, they are viewed as the best linebacker tandem to ever play the position at ASU.

He collapsed while jogging in the desert outside Laveen, Arizona

Laveen, Arizona

Laveen is a suburban community in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, situated eight miles southwest of Downtown Phoenix near the confluence of the Gila and Salt rivers. Parts of Laveen constitute an unincorporated area in Maricopa County, while the remainder falls within the city limits of...

. He died about an hour later at a Phoenix hospital. His death was attributed to heart disease, although his brother, drug counselor and former San Diego Chargers

San Diego Chargers

The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 guard, Ira Gordon

Ira Gordon

Ira Lawrence Gordon is a former professional American football player who played offensive tackle for six seasons for the San Diego Chargers. He was a starter for the last two. Left unprotected in the 1976 NFL Expansion Draft, he was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers...

, later disclosed evidence of cocaine use. A toxicological examination, however, tested negative for cocaine.