Victor Arnold Washington (March 23, 1946 – December 31, 2008) was an
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 ...
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. Th ...
and kick returner. After attending the
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...
, he played nine professional seasons, three in the
Canadian Football League (CFL) and six in the
National Football League (NFL).
College career
Washington played for Wyoming from 1965 to 1967, as a running back, defensive back, and kick returner. As a sophomore, he intercepted three passes and returned 34 punts for 443 yards. In his Junior season, Washington set school records for punt return yards in a season (53 for 565 yards and 2 touchdowns) and in a single game (145 yards). He also had a 95-yard kickoff return touchdown, 40 tackles, 22 pass deflections, and four interceptions. Wyoming finished the season undefeated at 13-0 before losing to
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 n ...
in the
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 ...
, 28–13.
The Sugar Bowl loss turned out to be Washington's final college game. A few months later, Washington was charged with assaulting a 19-year-old student referee during an intermural basketball game. He pleaded guilty and received 5-day suspended jail sentence and a 25-dollar fine. Wyoming permanently expelled him. Despite this, Wyoming still voted him into their athletic hall of fame in 2005.
CFL
Vic Washington first starred with the CFL's
Ottawa Rough Riders
The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...
in 1968 and 1969, winners of back-to-back
Grey Cup Championships in
1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* J ...
&
1969
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon.
Events January
* January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.
* January 5
**Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
against the
Calgary Stampeders
The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-o ...
and the
Saskatchewan Roughriders
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division.
The Roughriders were founded in ...
, respectively. In the first of the two title matches, Washington received the
Most Valuable Player award for his 80-
yard
The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly ...
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 ...
run from
scrimmage, establishing a Grey Cup record that still stands. He played one more season in the CFL with the 1970 B.C.Lions before leaving for the NFL.
NFL
After signing with the NFL's
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 Nationa ...
, he rushed for 811 yards with a 4.2 average, led the league with 1,986 all-purpose yards, was named to his only
Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players.
The format has changed thro ...
and helped to lead the team to the
National Football Conference
The National Football Conference (NFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest professional level of American football in the United States. The NFC and its counterpart, the American Football Conference ( ...
finals in
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses ( February 10, and August 6).
The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.
Events
J ...
. In a 49ers loss to 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 divis ...
in the
playoff
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
s the
next season, he returned the
opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown setting the NFL postseason record for longest kickoff return. He finished his professional football career with the
Houston Oilers
The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...
and
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...
. Washington retired with 129 kickoff returns for 3,341 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 2,028 yards and 16 touchdowns, and catching 130 passes for 1,090 yards and 5 scores.
See also
*
References
External links
* FitzGerald, To
"Vic Washington, 49ers Pro Bowler from 1970s dies at 62"''San Francisco Chronicle'', Saturday, February 7, 2009
1946 births
2008 deaths
American football running backs
American football safeties
Buffalo Bills players
Canadian football running backs
Houston Oilers players
National Conference Pro Bowl players
Ottawa Rough Riders players
Sportspeople from Plainfield, New Jersey
San Francisco 49ers players
Wyoming Cowboys football players
Players of American football from New Jersey
{{runningback-1940s-stub