Lyle Downs was an Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played with Carlton

Carlton Football Club

The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...

 in the Victorian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 (VFL).

Downs, who also played for the Carlton Cricket Club

Carlton Cricket Club

Carlton Cricket Club is an Australian cricket team that competes in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition. The club was formed in 1864 and plays its home matches at Princes Park in North Carlton. Known as the Blues, Carlton has won eight First XI premierships, most recently in the...

, was a rover and played finals in his first three seasons. He played a game for Carlton with his brother Johnny in 1920. The brothers were cousins of another Carlton footballer Tommy Downs

Tommy Downs

Tommy Downs was an Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton in the Victorian Football League .Downs was a Recorder Cup winner at Northcote in 1925, having previously played with Preston....

.

After a training session on 7 July 1921, Downs collapsed and died in the training room of a heart attack.