Longtime NFL and NBA team owner passes away at 90
Longtime New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson has died at age 90, according to the official team website.
Saints Owner Tom Benson, 90, passed away peacefully today at Ochsner Medical Center with his wife Gayle Marie Benson at his side https://t.co/gjAIQYKdDw pic.twitter.com/BK5aS2vj0v
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) March 15, 2018
Benson peacefully passed away Thursday after falling ill to the flu on Feb. 16.
He has owned the Saints since 1985, and he quite literally saved professional football in New Orleans. He purchased the team once he learned that other parties interested in purchasing the Saints wanted to relocate the team.
Benson oversaw quite a few milestones for his beloved Saints.
They posted their first winning season in 1987, 20 years after their founding and just two years after Benson had purchased the team. They also qualified for the playoffs for the first time that year.
Benson also got to witness the team’s first Super Bowl win in 2009. The Drew Brees-led Saints toppled the favored Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning in Super Bowl XLIV.
It was one of the more exciting Super Bowls in the last 10 years, with the game being sealed on a wild pick-six by New Orleans’ Tracy Porter.
https://twitter.com/HistorylnSports/status/956343816759463936
In 2012, Benson purchased the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets. He eventually rebranded them as the Pelicans.
Sadly, the last few years of Benson’s life were mired in an ugly family squabble over who inherits his sports empire.
In early 2015, Benson revealed that his Saints and Pelicans would be passed on to his wife of 13 years, Gayle, per The New York Times.
Many had long presumed that his teams would eventually be inherited by his daughter, Renee, and her two children, Rita and Ryan LeBlanc.
Here’s to Tom Benson… one of the true great owners in the NFL. The city gonna March for you… You left your mark, my man. Let the second shut down Nola! #ripTomBenson#geauxSaints pic.twitter.com/gmr9vY9Yow
— Anthony Mackie (@AnthonyMackie) March 15, 2018
Renee, Rita and Ryan filed a lawsuit against Benson within hours of his declaration of intent for Gayle to inherit the franchises. It was an nasty affair that alleged Benson was mentally unfit and that Renee needed to be in charge of his assets to protect him.
The sides eventually reached a settlement in January 2017. Gayle Benson will retain control over the Pelicans and Saints.
“This has been a long and difficult time and we are pleased this is behind us,” Benson said in a statement per ESPN. “We have many great projects ahead and look forward to them. In addition, we continue to strive for our number one goal and that is winning championships in football and basketball.”
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