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Longtime popular Bay Area sportscaster dies

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Wayne Walker, a star linebacker for the Detroit Lions who became arguably the Bay Area’s most popular sportscaster for two decades, died in his hometown of Boise Idaho on Friday. He was 80.

Walker had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease since 2010, and his death is being attributed to complications from the disease, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

After playing 15 seasons in the NFL for the Lions, where he was a three-time Pro Bowl player, Walker became the sports director for KPIX-TV (CBS) in San Francisco in 1974.