Former Raiders tight end Todd Christensen dies at age 57

By Sid Saraf, FOXSports.com The football world lost one of its greats when Todd Christensen died on Wednesday. The legendary Raiders tight end had been suffering from liver disease and died during surgery at a hospital in Utah. Christensen starred for BYU during the late 1970s as a running back before switching to tight end when he turned professional. Christensen was drafted by the Cowboys, but went on to fame when was claimed off the waiver wire by the Raiders in 1979. He caught 461 passes and 41 touchdowns over his 11-year career. He was a five-time Pro Bowler and won two Super Bowls with the Silver and Black. His best statistical season came in 1983, when he caught 92 passes for 1,247 yards and 12 touchdowns. Check out some of his career highlights below:

Christensen was also known as an intelligent and very well-spoken individual, as evidenced by this speech he gave in salute of his son at an event in 2007:

He was a broadcaster in his post-football life, calling NFL games for NBC from 1990-1994. He also worked for MountainWest Sports Network until it folded in 2012. There was also this legendary call, when Christensen was doing games for ESPN. Todd was thrilled when his son caught a pass:

Mr. Christensen, you will be missed. Questions? Comments? Send them to lacesoutmail@gmail.com and we might respond in our weekly mailbag!