Karl Robert Sweetan (''Pronounced:'' Swee-TAN) (October 2, 1942 – July 2, 2000) was an American 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 ...

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. He played five seasons in the

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(NFL), from 1966 to 1970, for three teams.

Early life

Sweetan grew up in Dallas and graduated from South Oak Cliff High School in 1961.

College career

Sweetan played football at Navarro Junior College and

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

before transferring to Wake Forest. Sweetan was Wake Forest's starting quarterback in 1963, his senior year. He completed 79 of 218 passes for 674 yards, throwing one touchdown and 18 interceptions. His 218 pass attempts were the second highest in the conference, and fifth highest in the country.

Professional career

Undrafted by the National Football League out of college, Sweetan played quarterback and defensive back for the

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’s

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during the 1964 season. In the 1965 NFL draft, he was an 18th round draft choice of the Detroit Lions. During his first season, in 1966, he replaced an injured Milt Plum in an October 16 game against 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 ...

. In that game, Sweetan threw a 99-yard pass to Pat Studstill that will always be an NFL record for longest pass completion. Sweetan was the second NFL quarterback to accomplish the feat; as of 2021, a total of 12 NFL quarterbacks have thrown a 99-yard pass, with the most recent being Eli Manning in 2011. Sweetan played himself in the 1967 movie, '' Paper Lion'', which starred

Alan Alda Alan Alda (; born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; January 28, 1936) is an American actor. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner and a three-time Tony Award nominee, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pier ...

as an amateur participating at quarterback during the Lions preseason (based on an actual experience by the writer George Plimpton). Sweetan gained a different kind of notoriety when it was alleged that he tried to sell an NFL football playbook to another team; however, the charge was not proven.

Personal life

Sweetan spent the last 27 years of his life in Las Vegas, where he worked for a series of casinos; his last job was as a baccarat dealer at the Las Vegas Hilton. He was survived by four daughters and a son. According to a 1966 article in the Detroit Jewish News, Sweetan said he was Jewish.Jewish Indians in sports arenas; Detroit Jewish News
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References

1942 births 2000 deaths Players of American football from Dallas American football quarterbacks Navarro Bulldogs football players Wake Forest Demon Deacons football players Detroit Lions players New Orleans Saints players Los Angeles Rams players Toronto Argonauts players {{quarterback-1940s-stub