Ross William Fichtner (October 26, 1938 – October 14, 2022) 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 ...

former

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a 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 Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

(1960 - 1967) and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

(1968). 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 ...

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

where he succeeded

Len Dawson Leonard Ray Dawson (June 20, 1935 – August 24, 2022) was an American professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with the K ...

as the starting quarterback; he twice led the Boilermakers in passing (1957 & 1958) & total offense (1957 & 1958). He played in the

Blue-Gray Game Livid is a medium bluish-gray color. This color name comes from the Latin color term ''lividus'', meaning "'a dull leaden-blue color'; it is also used to describe the color of contused flesh, leading to the English expression 'black and blue ...

following the 1959 season. He is also the father of

Randy Fichtner Randy Fichtner (born November 7, 1963) is an American football coach. He spent 14 seasons as a part of the Pittsburgh Steelers' coaching staff from 2007 to 2020. He most recently served as their offensive coordinator, a position he held for thre ...

, who formerly served as the receivers coach, quarterbacks coach, and offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Rossfichtnerautograph

References

1938 births 2022 deaths American football cornerbacks Cleveland Browns players New Orleans Saints players Purdue Boilermakers football players Players of American football from McKeesport, Pennsylvania 20th-century American sportsmen {{defensiveback-1930s-stub