Gerald LaVern Tarr (born August 27, 1939) is a former collegiate and professional

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 ...

player who played in one

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 ...

(AFL) season (1962) for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

. Tarr was also a successful college

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete. Tarr attended the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

, where he was a two-sport athlete in football and track. In track, Tarr was a member of Oregon's 4 x 110 yard relay team with Mike Gaechter, Harry Jerome, and Mel Renfro, which set a world record in 1962. Tarr's main event, however, was the 120-yard hurdles. He was the first athlete to win back-to-back

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

titles in the high hurdles in 1961 and 1962, and in doing so, helped Oregon win its first ever NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship in 1962. Like his relay mates Renfro and Gaechter, Tarr decided to play professional football rather than continue his track career. He played one season with the

of the AFL. Tarr is a member of the University of Oregon Athletic Hall of Fame and the

Oregon Sports Hall of Fame The Oregon Sports Hall of Fame honors Oregon athletes, teams, coaches, and others who have made a significant contribution to sports in Oregon. The first class was inducted in 1980, with new inductees added in the fall. Operated by the Oregon Sports ...

References

1939 births Living people Track and field athletes from California Players of American football from Bakersfield, California American male hurdlers American football defensive linemen Bakersfield High School alumni Denver Broncos (AFL) players Oregon Ducks football players Oregon Ducks men's track and field athletes NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners {{US-hurdles-athletics-bio-stub

See also

References