Paul Hofer (born May 13, 1952 in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

) is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player who played

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

for six seasons in the NFL. He was a part of the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-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 of the league's National ...

Super Bowl XVI winning team. Known for his hard and relentless running style, Hofer was a fan favorite despite being on poor 49ers teams in the mid to late 1970s. Hofer was a brutal, attacking runner who suffered serious knee injuries that ultimately shortened his career. Hofer saw limited duty during the 1981 season but was placed on injured reserve before season's end; he was unable to play in the playoffs or the Super Bowl. He retired soon thereafter.

References

1952 births Living people People from Memphis, Tennessee American football running backs San Francisco 49ers players Ole Miss Rebels football players {{runningback-1950s-stub