Rich McGeorge

Wikipedia

Rich McGeorge
No. 81
PositionTight end
Personal information
Born (1948-09-14) September 14, 1948 (age 77)
Roanoke, Virginia, U.S.
Height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High schoolJefferson (Roanoke, VA)
CollegeElon (1966–1969)
NFL draft1970: 1st round, 16th overall pick
Career history
Playing
Coaching
Awards and highlights
  • 3× First-team All-CIAC (1967–1969)
Career NFL statistics
Receptions175
Receiving yards2,370
Receiving touchdowns13
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Richard Eugene McGeorge (born September 14, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for nine seasons with the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Elon Fightin' Christians and was selected by the Packers in the first round of the 1970 NFL draft.

Playing career

After graduating from Jefferson High School in Roanoke, Virginia, McGeorge enrolled and played football at Elon College (now Elon University).[1] He was the first tight end selected in the 1970 NFL Draft. Other tight ends who would also go on to play in the NFL who were drafted after McGeorge in 1970 include Raymond Chester, Rich Caster and Stu Voigt.[2] While he did not start in any of the 14 games he played in his rookie season, he would go on to start 101 games for the Packers. He was the Packers' starting tight end in every 1971 game and in all Packers games between 1973 and 1978 but one. He caught 175 passes for 2,370 yards and 13 touchdowns in his NFL career.[3] McGeorge had also started the first two games in 1972, but was lost for the season to a knee injury in the second regular season game, against the Oakland Raiders. He was therefore unavailable to play for the Packers in their playoff loss against the Washington Redskins—the only time the Packers made the playoffs in McGeorge's years there.[4] McGeorge bounced back the next season, and was named the Packers' offensive player of the year in 1973.[1]

NFL career statistics

Legend
Bold Career high
Year Team Games Receiving
GPGSRecYdsAvgLngTD
1970GNB 14023216.0162
1971GNB 14142746317.1504
1972GNB 2245012.5232
1973GNB 14141626016.3441
1974GNB 14143044014.7510
1975GNB 14143245814.3431
1976GNB 14142427811.6281
1977GNB 1413171428.4181
1978GNB 16162324710.7251
Career1161011752,37013.55113

Personal life

McGeorge received his BA degree in Health and Physical Education from Elon in 1971. He and his wife Bonnie have two sons, Randy and Jason.[5]

Post-playing career

McGeorge spent most of his post-NFL career as an assistant football coach and offensive coordinator. He was an assistant coach in three different pro football leagues: the NFL (with the Miami Dolphins), the USFL (with the Birmingham Stallions and Tampa Bay Bandits[5] and the XFL, where he was the offensive coordinator for the Memphis Maniax in the XFL's only season, 2001.[6] He worked under Steve Spurrier at both Duke University and the University of Florida, and was his offensive coordinator with the Bandits. In addition, he worked as an assistant coach at North Carolina Central University and Shaw University. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2012 for his college football career at Elon University.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 Doug Doughty, "Hometown hero McGeorge gets a second chance", The Roanoke Times, December 17, 2012. http://ww2.roanoke.com/sports/college/wb/318020/ Archived February 15, 2015, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  2. "1970 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  3. "Rich McGeorge Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
  4. Pete Dougherty, "Pete Dougherty column: Injuries hurt, but few players are irreplaceable", Green Bay Press-Gazette, December 4, 2009.
  5. 1 2 Duke Sports Information, "Rich McGeorge Added To Blue Devil Football Staff", January 12, 2002. Available online: http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=142508 . Retrieved February 15, 2015.
  6. Orlando Sentinel, "Memphis Maniax", February 2, 2001. . Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  7. J. P. Giglio, "Elon great Rich McGeorge finally honored", News and Observer, June 11, 2012. http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/06/11/2129918/health-honors-for-rich-mcgeorge.html . Retrieved February 14, 2015.