Richard Charles Houston (November 16, 1945 – December 11, 1982) 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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who played five seasons with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

of 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). He was selected by the Giants in the fourth round of the 1969 NFL/AFL draft after playing

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at East Texas State University.

Early life

Richard Charles Houston was born on November 16, 1945, in

Texarkana, Texas Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States, in the Ark-La-Tex region. Located approximately from Dallas, Texarkana is a twin cities, twin city with neighboring Texarkana, Arkansas. The Texas city's population was 36,193 at the 2 ...

. He attended Dunbar High School in Texarkana.

College career

Houston played for the East Texas State Lions of East Texas State University from 1964 to 1968. He missed the 1967 season due to being drafted into the

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during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. He was a

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in 1965, 1966, and 1968. Houston caught 76 passes for 1,361 yards and 11 touchdowns during his college career. He was inducted into the school's athletics hall of fame in 1994.

Professional career

Houston was selected by the

in the fourth round, with the 92nd overall pick, of the 1969 NFL draft. He played in six games for the Giants during the 1969 season, catching two passes for 69 yards and returning 12 kicks for 252 yards. He appeared in 13 games, starting four, in 1970, recording four receptions for 68 yards, eight kick returns for 173 yards, one fumble, and one fumble recovery. Houston played in 13 games, starting 12, in 1971, catching 24 passes for 426 yards and four touchdowns. He started all 14 games for the Giants during the 1972 season, totaling 27 receptions for 468 yards and three touchdowns, one fumble, and one fumble recovery. The Giants finished the season with an 8–6 record, third in the

NFC East The National Football Conference – Eastern Division or NFC East is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It has four members: the Dallas Cowboys, New Yo ...

. Houston appeared in all 14 games for the second consecutive season in 1973, recording eight receptions for 90 yards and 15 kick returns for 375 yards. He was released by the Giants in 1974.

Death

Houston was killed in a car crash on December 11, 1982, in

Hackensack, New Jersey Hackensack is the most populous municipality in and the county seat of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Houston, Rich 1945 births 1982 deaths Players of American football from Texarkana, Texas American football wide receivers East Texas A&M Lions football players New York Giants players Road incident deaths in New Jersey 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War