PITTSBURGH (WTAQ) – The only brother of Green Bay Packers’ coach Mike McCarthy died Wednesday.
47-year-old Joe McCarthy III was playing racquetball at a gym in the family’s home area of Pittsburgh when he collapsed.
KDKA-TV said he was taken to a hospital in McCandless Pennsylvania, where he was pronounced dead. There was no immediate word on the cause of Joe McCarthy’s death.
Mike McCarthy, who’s 51, was supposed to hold his season ending news conference late Wednesday morning — but the Packers canceled it about a half hour before it was supposed to begin. It has not been re-scheduled.
Joe McCarthy operated his own law firm in the Pittsburgh area. He was a former deputy state attorney general in Pennsylvania.
Joe and Mike McCarthy were very close. They’re the only 2 sons of Joe Jr. and Ellen McCarthy. They played sports together and worked in their father’s Pittsburgh tavern.
Packers’ president Mark Murphy said the team was “very saddened” to learn about Joe McCarthy’s death, and their “sincere condolences” are with the coach’s family.
This came 3 days after the Packers’ tough loss at Seattle in the NFC Championship Game. Mike McCarthy was criticized by many for some of his play calling in that game — but many who tweeted their condolences Wednesday night said things need to be put in perspective.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
