Ex-Congressman, QB Jack Kemp Dead at 73

(NEWSER) - For Adam Clymer, writing in the New York Times, Jack Kemp won’t be remembered as just a Bills star and Buffalo congressman. He’ll be remembered as the player who boycotted a New Orleans game to protest segregation, and the politician who “moved the Republican Party to a commitment to tax cuts as the central focus of economic policy.” He was, in Sen. Joe Lieberman’s words, “an American original.” More»

Docs can't say what afflicts former NFL star, GOP lawmaker, 73

(NEWSER) - Jack Kemp, the former NFL star and Republican congressman, is in treatment for cancer, the Buffalo News reports. A spokeswoman said the type of cancer is “undetermined,” but that tests are under way to identify it. Kemp, 73, served 18 years as a representative from New York before a stint as secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and was Bob Dole’s vice-presidential running mate in 1996. More»

His efforts in Afghanistan inspired the Tom Hanks movie

(AP) - Charlie Wilson, the former congressman from Texas whose funding of Afghanistan's resistance to the Soviet Union was chronicled in the movie Charlie Wilson's War, died today at 76. Wilson represented the 2nd district in east Texas in the House from 1973 to 1996 and was known in Washington as "Good Time Charlie" for his reputation as a hard-drinking womanizer. More»

Evangelist reached millions during his heyday

(AP) - Evangelist Oral Roberts, who rose from tent revivals to found a multimillion-dollar organization and an Oklahoma university bearing his name, died today at 91 of complications from pneumonia in Newport Beach, Calif. He had been hospitalized after a fall on Saturday. Roberts was a pioneer on two fronts—he helped bring spirit-filled charismatic Christianity into the mainstream and took his trademark revivals to television, a new frontier for religion. More»

(NEWSER) - Quarterback Tom Brady, in his first game since missing almost all of last season with a knee injury, threw two touchdown passes in the final 2:06 to lead the New England Patriots to a comeback 25-24 victory over the visiting Buffalo Bills tonight, the Boston Herald reports. Brady, 32, completed 39 of 53 passes for 378 yards, the two touchdowns and one interception. More»