Charles Edward Sumner (October 19, 1930 – April 3, 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 selected by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

in the 22nd round of the 1954 NFL draft. A 6'1", 194 lbs.

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

from the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen ...

, Sumner played in eight

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) seasons, from 1955 to 1962. He later was an assistant coach in the NFL for many years, including three stints with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders. Sumner's only head coaching stint was with the

Oakland Invaders The Oakland Invaders were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League (USFL) from 1983 through 1985. Based in Oakland, California, they played at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. The team can t ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) in 1985. That year, he led the Invaders, a club that featured future NFL stars Anthony Carter, Bobby Hebert, Ray Bentley and Gary Plummer, to the USFL Championship Game. The 1985 USFL Championship game was the last game the league ever played. The Invaders lost to the Baltimore Stars, 28–24, at

Giants Stadium Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and primarily hosted sporting events and ...

. Sumner was born in

Radford, Virginia Radford (formerly Lovely Mount, Central City, English Ferry and Ingle's Ferry) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of 2020, the population was 16,070 by the United States Census Bureau. For ...

. He was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. He died in Maui, Hawaii on April 6, 2015.Jerry McDonald
''Former Raiders coach Charlie Sumner, architect of Super Bowl XVIII touchdown, dies in Maui at age 84.''
Obituary on ibabuzz.com, 6 April 2015, retrieved 7 April 2015.

References

1930 births 2015 deaths American football safeties Chicago Bears players Minnesota Vikings players New England Patriots coaches Oakland Raiders coaches Pittsburgh Steelers coaches Sacramento Surge coaches William & Mary Tribe football players Oakland Invaders coaches People from Dublin, Virginia People from Radford, Virginia Players of American football from Virginia 20th-century American sportsmen {{defensiveback-1930s-stub