Former NFL player Peter Gent, who wrote the 1973 novel North Dallas Forty, has died at the age of 69, according to The Associated Press.
Gent, who had been ailing for months, reportedly died of a pulmonary illness in his boyhood home in Bangor, Mich.
Gent played five seasons with the Cowboys from 1946-1968 after starring as a basketball player at Michigan State University. He led the Spartans in scoring for three consecutive seasons, averaging 17.4 points per game in his career.
The former Cowboys wide receiver is best known for North Dallas Forty, though, which exposed the seamier side of professional football. In the novel, which is often regarded as one of the best sports novels ever written, Gent examined issues such as sex, drugs and greed as they pertain to the NFL. Many have speculated that it's semi-autobiographical, with the main characters being based on himself and former Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith.
The novel was later made into a movie of the same title in 1979.
