Ronald S. Rector (May 29, 1944 – July 14, 1968) 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 ...

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 ...

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

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

, 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 ...

, and the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

and was drafted in the ninth round of the

1966 NFL draft The 1966 NFL draft was held at the 569 Lexington Avenue, Summit Hotel in New York City on Saturday, November 27, 1965. The expansion 1966 Atlanta Falcons season, Atlanta Falcons were awarded the first pick in each round as well as the final pick ...

. On June 29, 1968, Rector suffered a fractured skull and a concussion as a result of a motorcycle accident on

Interstate 71 Interstate 71 (I-71) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the midwestern and Southeastern United States, southeastern regions of the United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 64, I-64 and Interstate 65, ...

and died on July 14, 1968, as a result of these injuries.

References

1944 births 1968 deaths American football running backs Atlanta Falcons players Green Bay Packers players Motorcycle road incident deaths Northwestern Wildcats football players Players of American football from Akron, Ohio Washington Redskins players Road incident deaths in Ohio 20th-century American sportsmen {{runningback-1940s-stub