Paul Nathan Seal (born February 27, 1952) is a former

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. He played college football as a

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1971 to 1973 and professional football as a tight end in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

from 1974 to 1976 and for 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 ...

from 1977 to 1979. In his six-year NFL career, Seal totaled 106

reception Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to: Astrology * Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another ...

s, 1,586 receiving yards and seven

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

Early years

Seal was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, in 1952. He attended

Pershing High School John J. Pershing High School is a four-year public high school in Detroit, Michigan. It is in Conant Gardens in proximity to the residential areas University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1970 and played college football as a

for Bo Schembechler's Michigan Wolverines football teams from 1971 to 1973. As a junior, Seal started all 12 games at tight end for the 1972 Michigan Wolverines football team that compiled a 10-1 record, outscored opponents 264-57, and finished the season ranked #6 in the final

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...

. Playing for a run-oriented offense, Seal was the leading receiver for the 1972 Wolverines with 18 receptions for 243 yards and three touchdowns.(to retrieve information for a particular season, go to "Games & Totals by Season" and select the year for which statistics are to be retrieved) As a senior, Seal started all 11 games at tight end, was a team co-captain and was voted the Most Valuable Player on the undefeated 1973 Michigan Wolverines football team that compiled a 10-0-1 record, outscored opponents 330–68, and finished the season ranked #6 in the final AP Poll. For the second straight year, Seal was Michigan's leading receiver with 14 catchers for 254 yards and three touchdowns. At the end of the 1973 season, Seal was selected by the

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 20t ...

(UPI) as the second-team tight end on the 1973 College Football All-America Team.

Professional football

Seal was selected by the

in the second round (36th overall pick) of the

1974 NFL Draft The 1974 NFL draft took place at the Americana Hotel in New York City, New York, on January 29–30, 1974. Each of the 26 NFL teams were granted 17 selections for a total of 442 picks. Many experts consider the 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers to have ha ...

. Seal was also the top draft pick of the

Detroit Wheels The Detroit Wheels were an American football team, a charter member of the defunct World Football League. Founding Soon after Gary Davidson announced the WFL's formation in October 1973, he was approached by a man named Bud Hucul about putting ...

of the World Football League, but he opted to sign with the Saints in April 1974. He played three seasons with the Saints from 1974 to 1976. As a rookie in 1974, Seal appeared in 14 games and had career highs with 32 receptions, 466 receiving yards, and three receiving touchdowns. In 1975, Seal was the Saints' starting tight end in all 14 games and totaled 28 receptions, 414 receiving yards, and one touchdown. In early September 1977, the Saints traded Seal to the

in exchange for offensive lineman John Watson. Seal played for the 49ers for three seasons from 1977 to 1979, appearing in 43 games, nine as a starter, and totaled 37 receptions for 634 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Seal's longest reception of his NFL career came on a 47-yard touchdown bomb from

Jim Plunkett James William Plunkett (born December 5, 1947) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for sixteen seasons. He achieved his greatest professional success during his final eight seasons with the ...

in December 1977 against the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seal, Paul 1952 births Living people Pershing High School alumni Players of American football from Detroit American football tight ends Michigan Wolverines football players New Orleans Saints players San Francisco 49ers players