Two-time Super Bowl champion, Dutch-born, Canadian-raised Harald Hasselbach dies at age 56 after fighting cancer

Harald Hasselbach, a defensive lineman for the Denver Broncos during the team’s back-to-back Super Bowl championships in the late 1990s, and member of the 1992 Calgary Stampeders Grey Cup team, has died at age 56.

The Broncos announced Hasselbach’s death on Thursday, citing family. Hasselbach’s family said he died at home in the Denver area after a six-month fight with cancer.

Hasselbach began his professional football career with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. He’s one of only 10 players to win a Grey Cup and a Super Bowl.

A native of Amsterdam, Netherlands, Hasselbach never missed a game during his seven seasons with the Broncos between 1994 and 2000, getting 154 tackles, 17 1/2 sacks and four forced fumbles. He started 29 regular-season games and three playoff games, including the Broncos’ win over the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl following the 1998 season.

His seven seasons in the NFL followed a four-year career with the Stampeders. An alumnus of South Delta Secondary School in Tsawwassen, BC and the University of Washington, Hasselbach was a fifth-round draft pick by the Stampeders in 1989 and he played 50 games for Calgary from 1990-1993. He was a West Division and league All-Star in 1993.

He is survived by his wife, four children and four grandchildren.

With excerpts from Associated Press.