Dan Birdwell (October 14, 1940 – February 14, 1978) was an American college and professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player. A

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

, he played collegiately for the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

and professionally for the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(AFL) from 1962 to 1969. He was the starting left defensive tackle with

Tom Keating Thomas Patrick Keating (1 March 1917 – 12 February 1984) was an English artist, art restoration, art restorer and Art forgery, art forger. Considered the most prolific and versatile art forger of the 20th century, he claimed to have faked mo ...

on the right side for the

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

AFL Champion Raiders with their 13–1 win–loss record, which saw them win the 1967 AFL Championship, their first league championship in team history. They played for the AFL in the second AFL-NFL World Championship game, which they lost 33–14. In that season, the front four of Birdwell, Keating, Ike Lassiter, and

Ben Davidson Benjamin Earl Davidson (June 14, 1940 – July 2, 2012) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end, primarily with the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League (AFL). He was a three-time AFL All-Star with the ...

combined for impressive totals of 67 sacks and 666 yards lost; unofficially, Birdwell had 14.5 sacks, a career high that topped his ten from the previous season. An eccentric character as described by his teammates, Birdwell is credited with the following quote regarding the necessary mindset to play professional football: "You have to play this game like somebody just hit your mother with a two by four." Birdwell died of a massive heart attack at age 37 on February 14, 1978. It was reported that he had previously had been ill since with fever, aches and pains and other flu‐like symptoms days prior to his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birdwell, Dan 1978 deaths Houston Cougars football players Oakland Raiders players American Football League All-Star players 1940 births American Football League players

See also

References