Former Athens-Clarke County firefighter Dango Nguyen has died, losing a battle with cancer at the age of 48. Nguyen worked for the fire department in Athens for twenty years, before leaving to pursue a career as an actor. He landed roles in movies and on The Walking Dead.
From ACCFD Facebook page…
It is with tremendous sadness that we mourn the loss of one of our former firefighters. Dango Nguyen passed away early this morning after a hard-fought battle with cancer. Dango was a member of our department for almost 20 years.
Dango was a sergeant with our department when he left to pursue a career in the entertainment industry and other interests. But, once you're a firefighter, you're always part of our family. And Dango was a very well known member of our family.
He will always be remembered for his physical and mental strength. He was an aggressive and tenacious firefighter and first responder. He was also an excellent fire officer. He carried out his service to our community with a high level of pride in his craft, as well as a competitive spirit that made everyone else that he worked with better too.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Michelle, his family, and all of his friends. He touched many lives. We will all remember his quick wit, high energy, and unwavering determination. We all aspire to be "Dango Strong".
Daryl Drake has died. The 62 year-old Drake was an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was, in the 1990s, an assistant on the staffs of former Georgia Bulldog coaches Ray Goff and Jim Donnan.
From the AJC…
Drake, a native of Louisville, Ky., played collegiately at Western Kentucky. He spent one season in the Canadian Football League and participated in a pair of NFL training camps before returning to Western Kentucky to pursue a master’s degree. He went into coaching as a graduate assistant at Western Kentucky in 1983, the beginning of a career that included stops in the college ranks at Georgia, Baylor and Texas.
Drake coached at Georgia from 1992 to ’96 under Ray Goff and Jim Donnan, coaching receivers Shannon Mitchell, Brice Hunter and Hines Ward.