Robert King Beathard Jr. ( ; January 24, 1937 – January 30, 2023) was an American 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 ...

executive who was the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

(1978–1988) and the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

(1990–2000) of 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). His teams won four

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

s and competed in three others during his 38 years in the NFL, doing so with the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

(1966),

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

(1972 and 1973), Redskins (1982, 1983, and 1987), and the Chargers (1994). Beathard was inducted into the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...

in 2018.

Early life and playing career

Beathard was born in

Zanesville, Ohio Zanesville is a city in Muskingum County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located at the confluence of the Licking River (Ohio), Licking and Muskingum River, Muskingum rivers, the city is approximately east of Columbus, Ohio, Columb ...

, before moving to

El Segundo, California El Segundo ( , ; ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located on Santa Monica Bay, it was incorporated on January 18, 1917, and is part of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments. The population was 17,272 as of t ...

, at the age of four. He attended

El Segundo High School El Segundo High School, or ESHS, is a four-year public high school located in El Segundo, California. It is the only secondary school incorporated by El Segundo Unified School District. First built in 1927, the school campus contains 5 main buil ...

but did not begin playing football until his sophomore year, as a tailback. In college, he accepted a scholarship to play football for

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, but returned home after summer practices after feeling homesick. He then enrolled at El Camino Junior College for a year before enrolling at Cal Poly, where he played as a backup running back and later the starting

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

and

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

, leading the Mustangs to back-to-back 9–1 seasons. From 1956 through 1958, Beathard compiled 1,748 passing yards, 198 rushing yards, and intercepted 13 passes in the Cal Poly secondary. He went undrafted in 1959 and had preseason stints with two professional teams, but was unable to find a spot, spending his early post-college years playing semi-pro football and working various non-football jobs.

Executive career

Scout

Beathard joined the

as a part-time

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

in 1963. He left the Chiefs for the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

before returning to Kansas City in 1966. Beathard then served as a scout for 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 ...

from 1968 through 1971. He was named director of player personnel for the Miami Dolphins in 1972, succeeding Joe Thomas. From 1972 to 1973, the Dolphins would go 26–2 with two Super Bowl victories, including a perfect season in 1972.

General manager

Beathard was named

of the

in 1978. Prominent draft picks for the Redskins under his tenure include Art Monk, Mark May,

Russ Grimm Russell Scott Grimm (born May 2, 1959) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a Guard (American football), guard for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He has also served as an a ...

, Dexter Manley,

Charlie Brown Charles "Charlie" Brown is the Protagonist, principal character of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', syndicated in daily newspaper, daily and Sunday newspapers in numerous countries all over the world. Depicted as a "lovable loser", Charlie Brown ...

Darrell Green Darrell Ray Green (born February 15, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. Considered to be one of the greatest cornerbac ...

, Charles Mann, and Gary Clark. Beathard resigned from the team prior to the

1989 NFL draft The 1989 NFL draft (also known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting) was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The draft was held April 23–24, 1989, at the Marriott Marquis in Ne ...

and spent that year as a studio analyst with ''

NFL on NBC ''NFL on NBC'' is an American television sports presentation show broadcast by NBC. It aired from October 22, 1939 to January 25, 1998. The show returned since August 6, 2006. The branding is used for the presentation of the National Football Le ...

''. In 1990, Beathard became the general manager of the

. In 1994, the organization won the AFC Championship and appeared in its first Super Bowl. He retired in 2000.

Personal life

Beathard resided with his wife Christine in

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020 Uni ...

. Beathard's younger brother, Pete Beathard, was a quarterback at

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

, the

and the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

. One of Beathard's sons, Casey Beathard, is a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

songwriter. Another son, Kurt Beathard, is a football coach, formerly the offensive coordinator for Illinois State. A third son,

Jeff Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes ...

, is a scout for the Commanders, and was Mr. Irrelevant, being the last pick in the 1988 NFL Draft. His grandson, Jeffery "Bobo" Beathard, played four years at Appalachian State University as a wide receiver; while other grandsons, C. J. Beathard and Tucker Beathard, are a quarterback and a singer-songwriter respectively. Another of Beathard's grandsons, Clayton Beathard, was fatally stabbed in a bar fight in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2019. Beathard participated in the 1984

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 fini ...

. From 2005 to 2009, Beathard was a consecutive 5 time first-place winner in the men's age 65 and over group at the World Bodysurfing Championships held annually in Oceanside, California. Beathard was inducted into the

Cal Poly Mustangs The Cal Poly Mustangs are the athletic teams representing California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. The university fields twenty teams and competes in NCAA D ...

Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988. He was inducted into the

and Chargers Hall of Fame in 2018. Beathard died on January 30, 2023, from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

at his home in

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beathard, Bobby 1937 births 2023 deaths American football defensive backs American football quarterbacks American football running backs Atlanta Falcons scouts Cal Poly Mustangs football players California Polytechnic State University alumni Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Tennessee Deaths from dementia in Tennessee El Segundo High School alumni Kansas City Chiefs scouts Miami Dolphins executives NFL general managers NFL Network people People from El Segundo, California Players of American football from Los Angeles County, California Players of American football from Ohio Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees San Diego Chargers executives Sportspeople from Zanesville, Ohio Washington Redskins executives