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Claude Humphrey, Pillar of N.F.L. Falcons’ ‘Grits Blitz,’ Dies at 77

Claude Humphrey, the Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end who flattened quarterbacks for 10 N.F.L. seasons with the Atlanta Falcons and three with the Philadelphia Eagles, whom he helped propel to the 1981 Super Bowl, died on Friday at his home in Memphis. He was 77.

The cause was a cardiac episode, his daughter Claudia Humphrey Henry said.

A fearsome pass-rusher at 6 feet 4 inches and 250 pounds, Humphrey was inducted into the Hall, in Canton, Ohio, in the senior category in 2014 after narrowly missing out three times in the regular voting.