David Elmer "Bo" Rather (October 7, 1950 – April 2, 2018) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1970 to 1972 and professional football as a wide receiver in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

in 1973 and 1978 and for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

from 1974 to 1978. In six years of playing in the NFL, Rather appeared in 64 games and had 92 receptions for 1,467 yards and seven touchdowns.

Early years

Rather was born in

Sandusky, Ohio Sandusky ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Erie County, Ohio, Erie County, Ohio, United States. Situated along the shores of Lake Erie in the northern part of the state, Sandusky is located roughly midway between Toledo, Ohio, Toledo ( wes ...

, in 1950. He attended

Sandusky High School Sandusky High School (SHS) is a secondary school in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the Sandusky City School District, and one of two high schools in the city of Sandusky; the other high school is St Mary Central Cat ...

University of Michigan

Rather enrolled at the

in 1969 and played

for

Bo Schembechler Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler Jr. ( ; April 1, 1929 – November 17, 2006) was an American football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the University of ...

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins in college football history. The team is known for its ...

teams from 1970 to 1972. As a sophomore in 1970, Rather was a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

who started two games for the Wolverines. As a junior, Rather was moved to the offense where he started 11 games at the split end position for the

1971 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1971 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the 1971 Big Ten Conference football season. In their third season under head coach Bo Schembechler, the Wolverines compiled ...

that compiled an 11-1 record, scored 421 points, and broke Michigan's all-time record with 3,977 net rushing yards (331 rushing yards per game).(to retrieve information for a particular season, go to "Games & Totals by Season" and select the year for which statistics are to be retrieved) In September 1971, Rather led Michigan to a 21-6 victory over Northwestern with 114 all-purpose yards and a rushing touchdown. However, he played for a run-oriented offense, catching only 11 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns. As a senior, Rather started six games at split end for the 1972 Wolverines that compiled a 10-1 record. Rather shared playing time at the split end position with

Gil Chapman Gil Chapman (born August 23, 1953) is a former American football player, politician and businessman. Chapman became one of the leading scorers in the history of New Jersey high school football while playing for Thomas Jefferson High School in E ...

. In September 1972, Rather caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from

Dennis Franklin Dennis E. Franklin (born August 24, 1953) is a former professional American football player who was drafted by the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) in the 1975 NFL Draft. Prior to playing for the NFL he played college footbal ...

to give Michigan a 7-0 victory over Northwestern. During the 1972 season, Rather caught a total of 15 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns. Rather gained a total of 796 all-purpose yards for Michigan, including 378 receiving yards and 302 yards on kickoff returns.

Professional football

Rather was selected by the

in the fourth round (104th overall pick) of the 1973 NFL Draft. He appeared in only six games for the Dolphins during the

1973 NFL season The 1973 NFL season was the 54th regular season of the National Football League. The season was highlighted by O. J. Simpson becoming the first player to rush for 2,000 yards in one season. The season ended with Super Bowl VIII when the Mi ...

and had no pass receptions. He next played for the

as a wide receiver from 1974 to 1978. During his time with the Bears, Rather appeared in 55 games, 37 as a starter, and caught 91 passes for 1,428 yards and seven touchdowns. Rather returned to the Dolphins for the final three games of the

1979 NFL season The 1979 NFL season was the 60th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XIV when the Pittsburgh Steelers repeated as champions by defeating the Los Angeles Rams 31–19 at the Rose Bowl. The Steelers ...

. In six years of playing in the NFL, Rather appeared in 64 games and had 92 receptions for 1,467 yards and seven touchdowns.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rather, Bo 1950 births 2018 deaths American football defensive backs American football wide receivers Chicago Bears players Miami Dolphins players Michigan Wolverines football players Sportspeople from Sandusky, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio