Dennis Frank Homan (born January 9, 1946) is an American former 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 ...

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 five seasons for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

(1968–1970) and the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

(1971–1972). He later played for the

Birmingham Americans The Birmingham Americans were a professional American football team located in Birmingham, Alabama. They were members of the four-team Central Division of the World Football League (WFL). The Americans, founded in late December 1973, played in t ...

(1974) and

Birmingham Vulcans The Birmingham Vulcans were a professional American football team located in Birmingham, Alabama. They were members of the five-team Eastern Division of the World Football League (WFL). The Vulcans, founded in March 1975, played in the upstart le ...

(1975) of the

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 in sports, 1974 and most of its second in 1975 in sports, 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a w ...

(WFL) He is most proud of his children and grandchildren.

Early years

Homan attended Muscle Shoals High School where he practiced

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 ...

. In 2005, the Muscle Shoals City School System honored Homan by naming the field of James F. Moore Stadium, Dennis Homan Field. Homan played on the school's first

team and is the first Muscle Shoals High School player to be drafted into the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a 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 Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

. He also was inducted into the Colbert County Sports Hall of Fame. He accepted a

scholarship to the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

, where he was a member of the 1965 National Championship team and the 1966 undefeated season. He was originally recruited as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

. As a sophomore, he had 10 receptions for 298 yards and 4

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 a junior, he became a starter at

split end 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, WR gets its name from the player being split ...

, playing alongside

Ray Perkins Walter Ray Perkins (November 6, 1941 – December 9, 2020) was an American football coach and player. He played as a wide receiver for the University of Alabama and Baltimore Colts. He later worked as a football coach for 28 years, including sti ...

, while registering 23 receptions for 377 and 5

s. As a senior, he was named consensus

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and

Academic All-American An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the ...

, after making 54 receptions for 820 yards and 9

s. He also played in the

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

, where he was the MVP of the South team. During his collegiate career, he registered 87 receptions for 1,495 yards and set the school's career

record with 18. In 1988, he was inducted into the Alabama Circle of Champions and in 1999, he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Homan was selected by the

in the first round (20th overall) 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 ...

. In his three years with the team, his best season came in

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

, when he had 12 receptions for 240 yards (20 yard avg.) and no

s. He was a member of the

Super Bowl V Super Bowl V was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 1970 Baltimore Colts season, Baltimore Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 1970 Dallas Cowboys season, Dallas Cowboys ...

team that lost to the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from 1953 to 1983, when owner Robert Irsay moved the franchise to Indianapolis. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breeding and racing. It w ...

. His preseason performances in

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 ...

won him the starting

job over

Bob Hayes Robert Lee Hayes (December 20, 1942 – September 18, 2002), nicknamed "Bullet Bob", was an American sprinter and professional football player. After winning gold medals at the 1964 Summer Olympics, he played as a split end in the National F ...

for 5 games, before Hayes regained his starting job. When troubled

Lance Rentzel Thomas Lance Rentzel (born October 14, 1943) is an American former professional football player who was a flanker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys, and Los Angeles Rams. He played college football ...

was separated from the team, Homan was passed over by former

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 ...

Reggie Rucker for the last two games of the regular season, the Cowboys' playoff drive and its narrow

loss to the

. At the end of the season, he asked to be traded, so he was sent to the

in exchange for

Gloster Richardson.

Kansas City Chiefs

Homan decided to retire after experiencing two disappointing seasons and his trade requests were not being accepted by the

World Football League

He returned to professional

with the

of the

, where he became one of the league's top

wide receivers 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, WR gets its name from the player being spli ...

. In 1974, he had 61 receptions for 930 yards, 8

s and 2 action points, helping the Americans finish with a 15–5 regular season record and the

championship. In 1975, the Americans were replaced as the Birmingham WFL franchise by a new team called the

. The WFL folded in mid-season, after he recorded 18 receptions for 277 yards, while playing in a run-oriented offense.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Homan, Dennis 1946 births Living people People from Muscle Shoals, Alabama Players of American football from Alabama American football wide receivers Alabama Crimson Tide football players All-American college football players Birmingham Americans players Birmingham Vulcans players Dallas Cowboys players Kansas City Chiefs players