Phillip Leon "Chip" Myers (July 9, 1945 – February 23, 1999) 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

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 ...

who in 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) for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the 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 ...

. 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 Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers

Early life

Myers attended Northwestern Oklahoma State University in

Alva, Oklahoma Alva is a city in and the county seat of Woods County, Oklahoma, Woods County, Oklahoma, United States, along the Salt Fork Arkansas River. The population was 5,028 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, up from 4,945 at the U ...

Playing career

Myers was selected in the 10th round (248th overall) of the

1967 NFL/AFL draft The 1967 NFL/AFL draft was conducted March 14–15, 1967, at the Gotham Hotel in New York City. It was the first common draft between the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL), part of the AFL–NFL merger agreeme ...

. The wide receiver saw little action in 12 games, with two receptions for 13 yards. During the 1968 season, he played minor league football with the (Huntsville) Alabama Hawks of the Continental Football League, where he averaged almost 22 yards per catch. In 1969, he signed with 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 ...

Cincinnati Bengals. In his first year with the team, he played in all 14 games, starting five at wide receiver. He had 10 receptions for 205 yards (a 20.5 average) and two touchdowns. In 1970, he became an integral part of the now-NFL's Bengals offense and quarterback

Virgil Carter Virgil R. Carter (born November 9, 1945) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and the World Football League (WFL) from 1967 through 1976. College career Cart ...

. In 14 games, he started eight and totaled a team-leading 32 receptions for 542 yards (a 16.9 average) and two touchdowns. The following year, 1971, he was hampered by injuries and played 10 games, starting seven, and had 27 receptions for 286 yards (a 10.6 average) and one touchdown. He bounced back in 1972 with his best-ever season. With Ken Anderson now the Bengals starting quarterback, Myers started all 14 games with a team-leading 57 receptions for 792 yards (a 13.9 average) and three touchdowns. He ranked third in the NFL in total receptions and seventh in receiving yards. His performance earned him a spot on the 1972

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 ...

squad. However, in 1973 he was again beset by injuries, playing only five games and starting four. He had seven receptions for 77 yards (an 11.0 average). In 1974, he bounced back again and fellow wide receivers

Isaac Curtis Isaac Fisher Curtis (born October 20, 1950) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) and spent his entire career with the Cincinnati Bengals (1973–1984). He played colleg ...

and Charlie Joiner, tight end Bob Trumpy, Myers and quarterback Anderson gave the Bengals one of the best passing attacks in the NFL. Playing all 14 games and starting three, he had a team-leading 32 receptions for 383 yards (a 12.0 average) and one touchdown. In 1975, Myers played in 13 games, starting two, with 36 receptions for 527 yards (a 14.6 average) and three touchdowns. The 1976 season would be his last. He played in 12 games, starting four, with 17 receptions for 267 yards (a 15.7 average) and one touchdown. During that final season he caught the longest pass of his career, a 63-yarder from Anderson

Coaching career

Myers served as an assistant coach with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

for four seasons coaching receivers 1995-97 and quarterbacks in 1998. In January 1999 he was promoted to the team's

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

when Brian Billick left to become head coach of the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

. In February, Myers had spent a week in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

with the rest of the Vikings coaches for the

, and had been with the staff in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

on the weekend of February 20 for the NFL scouting combine. However, he died suddenly at age 53 of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

February 23, 1999 at his home in Long Lake, Minnesota. He was survived by his wife, Susie, and five adult children. Myers received much credit for the development of quarterback Randall Cunningham, who said, ""He was a big part of my success, and I'll carry the teachings and things I've learned from him onto the field each game." "I don't think there was anybody in this building who was loved more than he was," said defensive coordinator

Foge Fazio Serafino Dante "Foge" Fazio (February 28, 1938 – December 2, 2009) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Pittsburgh from 1982 to 1985. Fazio was an assistant coach with five teams ...

, who worked with Myers seven of the last eight season with the New York Jets and Vikings.

Early life

Playing career

Coaching career

References

See also