Sam Mills

Sam Mills

Interment Location Visited Sequence in Graves I Have Visited
Tinton Falls, NJ October 10, 2023 24th Pro Football Hall Enshrinee visited

Photographed October 10, 2023.

The mortal remains of football player and coach Sam Mills are buried at Monmouth Memorial Park in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. In August 2022, his widow Melanie stood on the stage erected in Tom Benson Stadium in Canton, Ohio, and declared of her husband, “There can be no better place for him to rest than in the Hall of Fame.” And still Mills’s legacy lives on, with his motivating quotation “keep pounding” serving as the mantra of the Carolina Panthers squad.

Photographed October 10, 2023.
Photographed October 10, 2023.
Photographed October 10, 2023.
Photographed October 10, 2023.

Lisa from the cemetery office looked up Mills’s plot location for me: Block 3, Lot 442. Burt the cat was not stirred from his slumber atop the counter. As I exited the building, I thanked Lisa and Burt for their assistance.


Fast Facts

Born: June 3, 1959 in Neptune City, New Jersey

Spouse: Melanie Mills (m. -2005)

Primary Team: New Orleans Saints (1986-1994)

Pro Football Hall of Fame: Class of 2022 (posthumous)

Died: April 18, 2005 in Charlotte, North Carolina

Cause of Death: Intestinal Cancer

Age: 45

Interment: Monmouth Memorial Park, Tinton Falls, New Jersey

"I always want to be the first person to know how bad I am, and the last person to know how good I am. And as long as I can live by that, I will continue to strive to be better."
- Sam Mills

Sources Consulted and Further Reading

New Orleans Saints. “Sam Mills Retrospective | Hall of Fame 2022 Inductee.” YouTube video, 5:17. August 5, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0th3rOgIws.

Pro Football Hall of Fame. “Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2022: Sam Mills Enshrinement speech.” YouTube video, 12:32. August 6, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKYo5K-_Cfc.

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