Richard Allen Wingo (born July 16, 1956) is an American Republican politician and a former 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played five seasons for 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 ...

from 1979 to 1984. He was selected by the Packers in the seventh round of the

1979 NFL draft The 1979 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 3–4, 1979, at the Waldorf Astoria ...

out of the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

. He was a part of one of the most famous plays in college football history, "The Goal Line Stand" in Alabama's

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...

victory over

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania 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 ca ...

in 1979. He played for college coach

Paul "Bear" Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...

. From Pee Wee football through high school, he led every team he played for in tackles. Wingo is the only player in Packers history to have a scoring total of 1 point. On September 6, 1981, against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

, he caught a pass in the end zone for a successful point-after-touchdown after a botched place-kick attempt. (At the time, either a successful place-kick or advancing the ball into the end zone both counted for one point.) Wingo served as strength coach at Alabama under former head coach

Bill Curry William Alexander Curry (born October 21, 1942) is an American former football player and coach. He played professionally as a center in the National Football League (NFL). He later became a college football head coach. He played college ba ...

. In 2014 Wingo ran for a seat in the

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with ...

, winning the general election in November. He was sworn into office in 2015. He served 2 terms, being reelected in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wingo, Rich 1956 births Living people Alabama Crimson Tide football players Green Bay Packers players American football linebackers Republican Party members of the Alabama House of Representatives American athlete-politicians 21st-century members of the Alabama Legislature