By the time he died on Jan. 26, Fred Forsberg was no longer six-plus feet of unfiltered ferocity. His knees were shot. His memory was muddled. His body was irreparably busted, mangled by the love of an unmerciful game.
“You name a health issue, and he probably had it going on,” his son, Jeff Forsberg, told The Times this week.
Forsberg — who his Husky teammates lovingly called “Fantastic Freddie” — died at age 76, primarily of heart failure.
The same heart never failed him on a football field.
“He was unique — just a larger-than-life character, out of a comic book almost,” said Jeff, who added that his father’s death was not COVID-related. “He was tough as nails. Just loved — loved — the game. He had tons of health problems later on in life, mostly caused by the game. His last three years, there was memory loss. We