Charles Frederick Hughes (March 2, 1943 – October 24, 1971) was an American

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 ...

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 played 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) from 1967 to 1971 with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

and 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 ...

Early life

Born on March 2, 1943, in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Hughes moved with his family to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

when he was young, along with his 12 siblings. Hughes attended high school in Abilene at Abilene High School. Hughes was also an avid golfer, having played with Chi Chi Rodriguez and

Lee Trevino Lee Buck Trevino (born December 1, 1939) is an American retired professional golfer who is regarded as one of the greatest players in golf history. He was inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981. Trevino won six major championships and ...

College career

Hughes 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 Texas Western Miners, where he is still listed in the all-time football records; his accomplishments include: * The most all-purpose yards in a single game, 401 in 1965 against North Texas State (he is also second with 360 the same year against Arizona State) * The most yards per reception for a single game, 34.9, also in 1965 against North Texas—this is also an NCAA record * The most receptions in a single game, 17, also against Arizona State in 1965 * Second in all-purpose yards for a season, with 2044 in 1966 * First in all-purpose yards per game for a season, 204 in 1965 * Second in all-purpose yards per game for his career with 132 * Fifth in all-purpose yards all-time with 3,989 * Second in career receiving touchdowns with 19 and yardage with 2,882 He was inducted into the UTEP Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006.

Professional career

Hughes was selected in the fourth round by the

in the 1967 NFL/AFL draft and played three seasons with the Eagles before he was traded to the

prior to the start of the 1970 season. Although listed as a wide receiver he saw most action on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

, being a backup at wide receiver. In his five-year career he caught 15 passes.

Death

Hughes had suffered an injury in an August 1971 preseason game against the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

, which led to him collapsing in the locker room. He was hospitalized, but doctors were unable to diagnose what was wrong (suspecting a

spleen The spleen (, from Ancient Greek '' σπλήν'', splḗn) is an organ (biology), organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The spleen plays important roles in reg ...

injury) and he was released, despite never fully recovering. Hughes, who would suffer from what he believed was acid reflux and other maladies for the remaining two months of his life, insisted on continuing to play, saying that the pain he was experiencing was "not that bad." On October 24, 1971, the Lions hosted 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 ...

at Tiger Stadium. Late in the fourth quarter, with Detroit trailing 28–23, the Lions were driving into Chicago territory and Hughes, who entered the game as an injury replacement, caught a pass from quarterback Greg Landry for 32 yards and a first down at the Bears' 37-yard line. Three plays later, Landry threw a pass that

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 ...

Charlie Sanders dropped near the end zone. Hughes, a decoy on the play, began running back to the huddle with 1:02 showing on the clock. Suddenly, he dropped to the turf clutching his chest around the 20-yard line. Hughes collapsed near Bears

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

Dick Butkus, who saw him begin to convulse violently on the field. Butkus motioned to the sideline frantically to get Hughes assistance. Both teams' doctors and trainers, along with a physician who happened to be attending the game, ran to Hughes to try to save him. An ambulance was called for and arrived to take Hughes to

Henry Ford Hospital Henry Ford Hospital (HFH) is an 877-bed tertiary care hospital, education and research complex at the western edge of the New Center, Detroit, New Center area in Detroit, Michigan. The flagship facility for the Henry Ford Health System, it wa ...

, where he was pronounced dead at 5:34 pm that afternoon. He was 28 years old. The game was played to its conclusion in front of a now-stunned silent crowd in Tiger Stadium, with the Bears' lead holding. The Lions awaited word of Hughes' condition after the game and the players were informed once word had broken that he was dead. A postmortem examination revealed that Hughes was suffering from undiagnosed and advanced

arteriosclerosis Arteriosclerosis, literally meaning "hardening of the arteries", is an umbrella term for a vascular disorder characterized by abnormal thickening, hardening, and loss of elasticity of the walls of arteries; this process gradually restricts th ...

(one of his coronary arteries was 75% blocked) and that he had a family history of heart disease. The direct cause of death was a

coronary thrombosis Coronary thrombosis is defined as the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel of the heart. This blood clot may then restrict blood flow within the heart, leading to heart tissue damage, or a myocardial infarction, also known as a heart ...

that cut off blood flow to the heart, which caused a massive

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 ...

. Hughes was buried in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, and all 40 of his Lions teammates attended his funeral, including head coach Joe Schmidt. He was survived by his widow, Sharon Leah, and by his son, who was 23 months old at the time, Brandon Shane. A $10,000 trust fund was set up for his son by an insurance company. His widow filed a $21.5 million malpractice lawsuit against Henry Ford Hospital in 1972 for not diagnosing his condition after the Bills game. The lawsuit was settled on October 3, 1974, for an undisclosed amount of money.

References

External links