Amos Marsh Jr. (May 7, 1939 – November 2, 1992) was a professional

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

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in the

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(NFL) for the

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and

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

. He played

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Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

Early years

Marsh was the starting

at Wallowa High School, contributing to the team's Tu-Valley football co-championship in 1957, which was a three-way tie with

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and Union, but only Wallowa advanced to the state playoffs after a vote by the league's school superintendents. As a sprinter and

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

er in track, Marsh helped Wallowa win the 1957 State Class "B" title. During those years, he developed a famous rivalry with Jim Puckett from Cove High School. The two raced in the 100 yard dash competition, with Puckett winning every contest, making Marsh the 100-yard dash state runner up three times (1956–1958). The 100-yard dash is no longer practiced and was run from 1927 to 1977.

College years

Marsh accepted an

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

scholarship, where he competed as a sprinter, hurdler and a broad jumper. In college, he repeatedly beat Puckett, who ran representing the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

. He also played

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 ...

as a wingback, halfback, split end and kicker. He was part of the 14–0 upset to the No. 6 ranked

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

at the

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on September 16, 1960. The Trojans were ranked No. 1 in the preseason by Playboy magazine and it was the last time an OSU team experienced victory at

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until 2021. As a senior, he was moved to split end but did not have much success, catching only 10 passes. He was selected to be a part of the North-South Shrine Game. In 1960, he was the Northwest sprint champion in both the 100 and 220.

Professional Football

Dallas Cowboys

Marsh was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

by the

after the 1961 NFL draft, because they were impressed by his speed. He also was a powerful player, earning the nicknames "Moose" and "Forward Marsh". He started his career as a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

and

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player. He was eventually moved to fullback to take advantage of his size and speed, while splitting time with J. W. Lockett. He led the team in kickoff and punt returns. He set franchise records with a 71-yard run from scrimmage and a 79-yard kickoff return. In

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

, he played fullback alongside Don Perkins, ranking seventh in the NFL with 802 yards and a 5.6-yard average per carry. That year, he set a franchise record with an 85-yard

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

reception against the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

and also broke his franchise record for the longest kickoff return with 101 yards, which was broken by Alexander Wright 29 years later in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

. The play came against the

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, when the Cowboys became the first NFL team in history to produce two 100-yard plays in the same game: a 100-yard

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return for a

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Mike Gaechter and the 101 yard kickoff return for a

by Marsh. In

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

, he was moved to halfback, with Perkins taking over the fullback position. Marsh's production regressed during the following years, while alternating with Jim Stiger. On September 9,

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

, he was traded to the

, after the team acquired fullback J.D. Smith. The Cowboys selected Walt Garrison with the fifth round draft choice they obtained in the transaction.

Detroit Lions

Playing as a fullback in

, he led the

in rushing (405 yards) and

s (8). On August 19,

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, he was traded to the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

in exchange for a conditional 1969 draft pick (not exercised).

Atlanta Falcons

On September 2, 1969, he was waived by the

before the start of the season.

Personal life

His brother Frank also went on to play professional football and then into professional basketball. Marsh died on November 2, 1992, after suffering a series of strokes, because of his diabetes condition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marsh, Amos 1939 births 1992 deaths People from Wallowa County, Oregon Players of American football from Oregon American football running backs American male sprinters American male long jumpers Oregon State Beavers men's track and field athletes Oregon State Beavers football players Dallas Cowboys players Detroit Lions players 20th-century American sportsmen