Hall of Famer Fred Dean Dies at 68; Won 2 Super Bowls with 49ers

Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end Fred Dean, who played 141 career games for the San Francisco 49ers and San Diego Chargers, died Wednesday at the age of 68.

NFL.com shared a statement from Hall of Fame President and CEO David Baker:

"The entire Pro Football Hall of Fame family mourns the passing of Fred Dean. He exemplified many of the values learned from this great game—commitment, integrity, courage—over the course of his life. Our thoughts and prayers are with Fred's wife, Pam, and their entire family. We will forever keep his legacy alive to serve as inspiration for future generations. The Hall of Fame flag will be flown at half-staff in Fred's memory."

Dean won two Super Bowls during his time in San Francisco from 1981 to 1985.

Dean played collegiately at Louisiana Tech before the Chargers selected him in the second round of the 1975 NFL draft.

He played in San Diego until the Chargers traded him to San Francisco in during the 1981 season. He helped lead the 49ers to Super Bowl titles that season and again during the 1984 campaign.

Dean was also a four-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro selection.

Sacks were not an official statistic until the last four seasons of Dean's career, which concluded after the 1985 campaign. Curtis Crabtree of Pro Football Talk noted he tallied 17.5 sacks in 1983 and set a record with six sacks in a single game against the New Orleans Saints that year. Derrick Thomas broke the record, which still stands today, in 1990 against the Seattle Seahawks with seven sacks in one game.

Dean was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2008.