Former Arizona Wildcats nose guard Chuck Osborne, a standout on the “Desert Swarm” teams of the mid-1990s, died Tuesday at his home in La Jolla, Calif. He was 38.
No cause of death has been given. UA officials were notified of Osborne’s death at this morning’s senior staff meeting; athletic director Greg Byrne tweeted his condolences later in the day.
A 6-foot-2-inch, 290-pound defensive tackle, Osborne played at the UA from 1992-95. Osborne led the 1994 team with 11 sacks. As a senior in 1995, Osborne famously forced ASU quarterback Jake Plummer to fumble in the teams' rivalry game; teammate Joe Salave’a recovered and ran for a touchdown, and the Wildcats won 31-28.
The St. Louis Rams selected Osborne in the seventh round of the 1996 draft, and he played in 15 games as a rookie. Osborne caught on with the Oakland Raiders a year later, and had brief stints with the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers in 2000.
That year, Osborne watched Dick Tomey’s final game as UA coach from Arizona Stadium.
A native of Los Angeles, Osborne spent the past few years in the Bay Area before moving to La Jolla. He was widowed, and had no children.
Read more in Thursday's Arizona Daily Star.
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