Charles Alvin Sanders (August 25, 1946 July 2, 2015) 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 ...

player who was a

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

for the

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 ...

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) from 1968 to 1977. Sanders was chosen for the NFL's 1970s All-Decade Team and voted 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 2007.

Early life

Sanders was born in 1946 in Richlands, North Carolina. He attended James B. Dudley High School in

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

, where he played for the

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

teams.

College career

Sanders attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

, where he played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the Golden Gophers. He was named to the All-Big Ten Conference Team in his senior year, when he recorded 21 receptions for 276 yards with two

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 ...

s, as Minnesota tied for the Big Ten championship with an 8–2 record.

Professional career

The Lions selected Sanders in the third round of the

1968 NFL draft The 1968 NFL/AFL draft was part of the common draft, in the second year in which the National Football League, NFL and American Football League, AFL held a joint draft of college players. It took place at the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City ...

, and he became their starting tight end for the next ten seasons. He had 336 career receptions for 4,817 yards and 31 touchdowns. He was also known as a superior blocker. Sanders was chosen for the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

seven times (1968–71, 1974–76). He was the only

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

to be named to the 1969 Pro Bowl, following a season where he had forty receptions for 533 yards. Sanders was also selected as a first-team

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

for the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

and

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

seasons, receiving the most votes of any player in both years. During an exhibition game in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

, he injured his right knee, but continued to play until his retirement at age 31 in November

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

. Sanders was named to the

NFL 1970s All-Decade Team The National Football League 1970s All-Decade Team is a list of National Football League (NFL) players selected by voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The squad consists of first- and second-team offensive, defensive, and special teams units, ...

as selected by voters of the

. He was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1997, and the Minnesota M Club Hall of Fame in 2013. In 2008, Sanders was chosen as a member of the Lions' 75th Anniversary All Time Team.

Later years

Sanders served as a

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

on Lions radio broadcasts from 1983 through 1988, worked with the team as an assistant coach in charge of wide receivers from 1989 to 1996, returned to perform radio broadcasts in 1997, and then joined the Lions' front office as a

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 ...

. He became the team's assistant director of pro personnel in 2000, and held the role until his death. In 2005, he co-authored ''Charlie Sanders' Tales from the Detroit Lions'', a book of anecdotes about the team and its players. Sanders also worked in the team's community relations department and served as a spokesman for the

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...

and The March of Dimes. He created The Charlie Sanders Foundation in 2007, which provided two college scholarships per year for students from Oakland County,

Monroe, Michigan Monroe is the largest city in Monroe County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The population was 20,462 at the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the south by Monroe Charter Township, but the two are administered autonomously. M ...

, and his home state of North Carolina. In 2012, he began the "Have A Heart Save A Life" program (within the foundation) to raise funds to provide heart (EKG) screenings to young people. In August 2012, the first "Charlie Sanders Have A Heart Save A Life Celebrity Golf Outing was held in West Bloomfield, Michigan. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital honored Sanders for his charitable work in 2014.

Personal life and death

Sanders and his wife, Georgianna, had nine children and lived in

Rochester Hills, Michigan Rochester Hills is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, United States. A northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Detroit, Rochester Hills is located about north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a popul ...

. Charlie has nine children Mia, Charese, Mary Jo, Georgianna Jr., Charlie Jr., Nathalie, Talissa, Wayne and Jordan. One of his daughters, Mary Jo is a pro boxer, and three of his sons played college football: Charlie Sanders Jr. at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

and had a brief NFL career with the Detroit Lions; one son formerly played at Saginaw Valley State University; and one son is currently playing at Saginaw Valley State University, after transferring from Michigan State University. Sanders developed a

malignant tumor Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal ...

behind his right knee, which was discovered while he was undergoing knee replacement surgery. Sanders underwent

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

, but died on July 2, 2015, in

Royal Oak, Michigan Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Metro Detroit, Detroit, Royal Oak is located roughly north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cens ...

, from cancer.

References

External links

* *''Pro Football Hall of Fame:'
Member profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Charlie 1946 births 2015 deaths American football tight ends Detroit Lions announcers Detroit Lions players Detroit Lions scouts Minnesota Golden Gophers football players National Conference Pro Bowl players NFL announcers People from Richlands, North Carolina Players of American football from Greensboro, North Carolina Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees Western Conference Pro Bowl players Deaths from bone cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in Michigan 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen