Richard Charles Poillon (August 13, 1920 – November 14, 1994) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

halfback 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

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

. He scored a career 247 points and was the Redskins' leading scorer for three years. Raised in

Valley Stream, New York Valley Stream is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 40,634 at the tim ...

, he attended

Valley Stream Central High School Valley Stream Central High School is a public senior high school (grades 10–12) in the Incorporated Village of Valley Stream in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is part of the Valley Stream C ...

, where he played baseball, basketball and football, as a quarterback, kicker, punter and kick / punt returner. He was inducted into the Nassau County High School Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022. He attended

Canisius College Canisius University is a private Jesuit university in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1870 by Jesuits from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. Canisius offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors, and around 34 ma ...

. Poillon was voted one of the Redskins' "Top 100 players" of all time by a poll by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. He had held the Redskins' record with an interception returned for 93 yards and a touchdown set against 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 ...

on November 21, 1948, and broken on December 26, 1987, with a 100-yard return by Barry Wilburn.via

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

"'Skins halt Vikings in OT"
'' The Daily Spectrum'', December 27, 1987. Accessed February 4, 2024, via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. It is owned by The ...

. "In the second period, Wilburn picked off a Wilson pass on the Washington goal line and raced 100 yards for a TD. The interception return broke a Redskins' record of 93 yards, set by Dick Poillon against the Philadelphia Eagles in 1948."

References

1920 births 1994 deaths Players of American football from Queens, New York American football halfbacks Canisius Golden Griffins football players People from Valley Stream, New York Players of American football from New York (state) Players of American football from Nassau County, New York Valley Stream Central High School alumni Washington Redskins players 20th-century American sportsmen {{Runningback-1920s-stub