NFL teams
Alaina Getzenberg, ESPN 2y

Buffalo Bills' all-time leading special teams tackler Mark Pike dies after having cancer, COVID-19

NFL, Buffalo Bills

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Former Buffalo Bills special teams standout Mark Pike has died after having non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, the team said Wednesday. Pike recently had complications related to a COVID-19 infection, followed by pneumonia. He was 57.

Pike played for the Bills throughout his 13-year NFL career after the team picked him in the seventh round of the 1986 draft out of Georgia Tech. The linebacker went on to play in 173 games, primarily on special teams, including the team's four AFC championship seasons from 1990 to '93.

For seven of the last eight years he played in Buffalo, Pike led the team in special teams tackles. He remains the team's all-time leading special teams tackler with 255, which ranks second in NFL history behind former Patriots player Larry Izzo (298).

Pike was the Bills' Crucial Catch honoree earlier this year.

He is survived by his wife, Sharon, and their sons, Ezekiel and Malachi, and daughter, Kramer.

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