Ron Widby

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Ron Widby
1967
 / Round: 4 / Pick: 81
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played:81
Punting yards:15,488
Punts:368
Punt Blocks:4
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

George Ronald Widby (March 9, 1945 – December 22, 2020) was an

punter in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers. He also was a member of the New Orleans Buccaneers of the American Basketball Association. He played college football at the University of Tennessee
.

Widby died on December 22, 2020, at the age of 75.[1]

Early years

Widby attended

Fulton High School, where he was a multi-sport athlete. He played quarterback in football. From his childhood in Knoxville, Widby showed tremendous athletic promise. One retired Knoxville sportswriter, Marvin West, recalled for a 2011 story on Widby that "he was good for his age. Every step of the way in his career, he was smooth for his age." Widby himself would recall, "I grew up with the idea I was going to win a scholarship to the University of Tennessee
."

He did just that, signing with

Fulton High School in Knoxville. However, near the end of his senior football season at Fulton, he broke his arm and shoulder. Widby recovered well enough to have a strong senior basketball season.[2]

College career

After arriving at his hometown university, Widby initially decided to concentrate on

NCAA varsity sports—the football
team kept him on scholarship in hopes he would change his mind.

As it turned out, the

punter. Mears had no problem with Widby playing that position, and as Widby himself recalled in 2011, "I always enjoyed punting a football." He also played on the freshman team in another of his high school sports, baseball, hitting nearly .400.[2]

As a sophomore (1964–65), he had won starting positions in both football and basketball. He averaged 41.1 yards on 74 punts. He also hit nearly .300 in what would be his only varsity baseball season, but felt bored by that sport.

As a junior, he averaged 42.8 yards on 20 punts.[3] He also met Tennessee's golf coach, who upon finding out that Widby had also been on Fulton's varsity golf team, invited him to try out for the team. Widby would go on to earn a letter in golf.[2] He had the unusual situation of having his football team playing in the 1965 Bluebonnet Bowl and at the same time the basketball squad was participating in the Gulf South Classic, so he was ferried by airplane back and forth between Shreveport and Houston as his playing schedule required.

Sportswriter Ron Higgins would say in 2011, "Few athletes in SEC history enjoyed a better senior year in 1966-67 than Ron in both football and basketball." As a senior in

All-American in basketball, and was also the SEC's basketball Player of the Year.[5]

He scored 50 points in his last regular season game against

NFL contract negotiations.[2] Similarly to the previous year, he had to take part in a basketball tournament and then rush to play in the 1966 Gator Bowl
football game on the same day.

In 1997, he was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.[6] In 2016, he was inducted into the University of Tennessee Athletics Hall of Fame.[7]

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

Widby was selected in three professional drafts in two sports. The

undrafted free agent Tom McNeill.[8]

New Orleans Buccaneers (ABA)

After failing to make the Saints' inaugural season roster,[2] he signed with the New Orleans Buccaneers of the American Basketball Association, playing for that team during the 1967-68 American Basketball Association season.[9][10]

Dallas Cowboys

On September 13,

taxi squad
in December.

In

NFL record, with an 84-yard punt
against his former team the Saints (also had a 56-yard punt in the same game) and set a second club mark by averaging 53.4 yards per punt.

In

, who had resigned his naval commission to join the Cowboys. He finished second in the league with a 43.3-yard average.

In

.

In

punter to be named to the Pro Bowl (Sam Baker
was the first).

On September 5,

1973 second round draft choice (#46-Golden Richards) .[11]

Green Bay Packers

Widby played two seasons for the Packers before suffering a ruptured spinal disc in a freak accident, that would cost him the last two games of 1973, all of the 1974 season, ending his career and leading to his release on July 18, 1975.[12] He averaged 41.8 yards per punt in 1972 and 43.1 yards in 1973.

Personal life

He later became a club pro at a country club in Texas, and once he turned 50, he entered the qualifying school for the

Senior PGA Tour twice, just missing out on his tour card on his second attempt. As of 2020, he was retired and lived in Allen, Texas.[2]

References

  1. ^ Backus, Will (December 24, 2020). "Ron Widby, who played four sports at Tennessee, NFL punter in two Super Bowls, dies at 75". Knoxville News Sentinel. Archived from the original on December 29, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Higgins, Ron (May 20, 2011). "Ron Widby – A man of four seasons for simple reasons". SEC Traditions with Ron Higgins. Southeastern Conference.
  3. ^ "Ron Widby Football bio". Archived from the original on December 29, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  4. ^ "Most Versatile' Tennessee Athlete Best Sec Hoopster". Archived from the original on December 29, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  5. ^ "Vols Dominate All-SEC". Archived from the original on December 29, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  6. ^ "Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame bio". Archived from the original on December 29, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  7. ^ "Hall of Fame Inductees". Archived from the original on December 29, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  8. ^ "A rich man is odd man out". Archived from the original on December 29, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  9. ^ "1967 NBA Draft". Archived from the original on August 7, 2011. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  10. ^ "Ron Widby ABA Stats". Archived from the original on December 29, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  11. ^ "Cowboys Trade Widby". Archived from the original on December 29, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  12. ^ "Widby Fails Physical; Waived by Packers". Retrieved February 19, 2020.

External links