Charles Thomas Crist (January 16, 1951 – October 28, 2020) was an American professional football

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 ...

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 ...

for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

, and the

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 ...

. Unusually for an NFL player, Crist never 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 ...

. A star

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

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

and a standout on the

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court as well in

Salamanca, New York Salamanca ( Seneca: ''Onë'dagö:h'') is a city in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States, inside the Allegany Indian Reservation, one of two governed by the Seneca Nation of New York. The population was 5,929 at the 2020 census. It was n ...

(Crist ranks second overall in Salamanca High School basketball scoring with 1,004 points, behind only Jack O'Rourke), Crist received an athletic scholarship to

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. Believing himself to be capable of playing quarterback at a high level, he insisted on playing that position if he were to play football, but Penn State coach

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football, Penn ...

insisted he play defensive back. Rebuffing Paterno's request, Crist instead used his scholarship to play

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

, where he played four years for the Nittany Lions. Crist's reputation as a defensive back was nevertheless still high enough even after not playing college football that the Giants signed him 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 ...

upon graduating in 1972. This time, he agreed to play defensive back, where he spent all seven years of his professional career, never playing quarterback again.Kindberg, Scott (2014)
Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame profile for Chuck Crist
Originally written for ''

The Post-Journal The '' Post-Journal'' is a daily newspaper, serving the area around Jamestown, New York. The current editor of the paper is John Whittaker. It is owned by Ogden Newspapers Inc. and is billed as "southwestern New York's leading newspaper" with a c ...

''. Retrieved April 6, 2016. After retiring from professional football, he served as a high school principal and elementary school principal in the Salamanca School District. Crist spent over four years on paid leave, facing undisclosed accusations, beginning November 2009; he was exonerated February 201

http://wivb.com/2014/02/17/hearing-delays-cost-taxpayers-more-than-300k/] Crist announced his retirement from school administration effective January 29, 2015, citing health problem

Prior to returning to Salamanca, Crist had also dabbled in assistant coaching with Cattaraugus-Little Valley Central School, Cattaraugus Central School from 1983 to 1985, and with the

Alfred Saxons football The Alfred Saxons football program represents Alfred University in college football. The team competes as the NCAA Division III level as a member of the Empire 8 conference. The Saxons play home games at the 3,000-seat Merril Field at Yunevich ...

team from 1985 to 1991. Crist died October 28, 2020. He was one of at least 345 NFL players to be diagnosed after death with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is caused by repeated hits to the head.

References

1951 births 2020 deaths American football safeties New York Giants players New Orleans Saints players San Francisco 49ers players Penn State Nittany Lions football players People from Salamanca, New York Players of American football from New York (state) 20th-century American sportsmen {{defensiveback-1950s-stub