Harrison Lynn Rosdahl (August 24, 1941 – June 15, 2004) was an American 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 ...

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 ...

who played three seasons in 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) with the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

and

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

. Rosdahl played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. He was a member of the Chiefs team that won the 1966 AFL championship.

Early life and college

Harrison Lynn Rosdahl was born on August 24, 1941, in

Hackensack, New Jersey Hackensack is the most populous municipality in and the county seat of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

. He attended

Ridgefield Park High School Ridgefield Park Junior-Senior High School is a six-year comprehensive community public high school that serves students in seventh through twelfth grade from Ridgefield Park, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the ...

Ridgefield Park, New Jersey Ridgefield Park is a village in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the village's population was 13,224, an increase of 495 (+3.9%) from the 2010 census count of 12,729, which in turn reflected ...

. Rosdahl was a member of the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Penn State Lady Lions basketball, Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot ...

from 1960 to 1963 and a three-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

from 1961 to 1963. He was named first-team All-East by both the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

and

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

in 1962.

Professional career

In December 1962, Rosdahl was selected by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

in the fourth round, with the 46th overall pick, of the

1963 NFL draft The 1963 NFL draft was held at the Sheraton in Chicago, Illinois, on Monday, December 3, 1962. The first overall selection was quarterback Terry Baker of Oregon State, the Heisman Trophy winner, taken by the Los Angeles Rams. The AFL draft wa ...

and by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

in the 14th round, with the 107th overall pick, of the

1963 AFL draft The 1963 American Football League draft was held in Dallas on Saturday, December 1, 1962. The Kansas City Chiefs drafted as the Dallas Texans, as their relocation would take place a few months later. With the first overall selection, they took ...

. On January 30, 1963, his AFL rights were traded to the

. He did not sign with the Bills until February 5, 1964. Rosdahl played in four games for the Bills during the 1964 AFL season before being waived on October 8, 1964. Rosdahl was then claimed off waivers by the AFL's

. He played in seven games, starting two, for the Chiefs during the 1964 season and recorded one sack. He appeared in all 14 games in 1965. He played in seven games for the Chiefs in 1966. On January 1, 1967, the Chiefs beat Rosdahl's former team, the Bills, in the

1966 American Football League Championship Game The 1966 AFL Championship Game was the seventh American Football League's championship game, played at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo, New York, on January 1, 1967. It matched the Western Division champion Kansas City Chiefs (11–2–1) an ...

by a score of 31–7. The Chiefs then advanced to

Super Bowl I The first AFL–NFL World Championship Game (known retroactively as Super BowlI and referred to in contemporaneous reports, including the game's radio broadcast, as the Super Bowl) was an American football game played on January 15, 1967, at th ...

, where they lost to the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

. Rosdahl was released by the Chiefs in 1967. Rosdahl played in one game for the

Waterbury Orbits The Bridgeport Jets were a minor league American football team based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. They began play in the Atlantic Coast Football League in 1966 as the Waterbury Orbits. The Orbits, already officially affiliated with the New York Je ...

of the

Atlantic Coast Football League The Atlantic Coast Football League (ACFL) was a professional American football Minor league football (gridiron), minor league that operated from 1962 to 1973. Until 1969, many of its franchises had working agreements with National Football Leagu ...

in 1967. He signed with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

of the AFL in 1968 but was later released.

Death

Rosdahl died at the age of 62 on June 15, 2004, of a fall suffered at his home in Ridgefield Park.Gavin, John A
"Harrison 'Hatch' Rosdahl, ex-pro football player, at 62"
''

The Record (Bergen County) ''The Record'' (also called ''The North Jersey Record'', ''The Bergen Record'', ''The Sunday Record'' (Sunday edition) and formerly ''The Bergen Evening Record'') is a newspaper in New Jersey, United States. Serving Bergen, Essex, Hudson and ...

'', June 18, 2004. Accessed July 31, 2014. "RIDGEFIELD PARK - Harrison 'Hatch' Rosdahl, a professional football player for seven years, died from injuries suffered in a fall at his home Tuesday. He was 62. Mr. Rosdahl was born in Hackensack. He graduated in 1959 from Ridgefield Park Junior-Senior High School, where he starred in football and track."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosdahl, Hatch 1941 births 2004 deaths American football defensive linemen Buffalo Bills players Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in New Jersey Kansas City Chiefs players Penn State Nittany Lions football players Players of American football from Hackensack, New Jersey People from Ridgefield Park, New Jersey Ridgefield Park High School alumni New York Jets players American Football League players