Chester "Chet" Winters (born October 22, 1960) is an American former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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)#Offen ...

. 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

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Run ...

and later was a member of the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

and

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 club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

of 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), as well as the

New Jersey Generals The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL).

Early life

Winters was born on October 22, 1960, in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Jacksonville High School in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

and is one of only six of their alumni ever to make it to the NFL. He was considered one of the best

s in the state and was selected to

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

' Arkansas "Super Team" as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

in 1978, after having helped Jacksonville win the Class AAAA championship. Winters totaled over 2,000 rushing yards and 36

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s in his time at Jacksonville. He committed to play

for the

College career

As a true

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

in 1979, Winters was behind Billy Sims in rushing priority and ran 16 times for 123 yards (a 7.7 average) and two touchdowns. After Sims graduated, Winters saw more playing time in the 1980 season, although behind

David Overstreet David Arthur Overstreet (September 20, 1958 – June 24, 1984) was a running back in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and National Football League (NFL). He played for coach Barry Switzer and the Oklahoma Sooners as a halfback out of the wishb ...

, recording 79 rush attempts for 370 yards and four touchdowns, as Oklahoma won the conference championship with a 10–2 record. Winters saw limited action in his final two seasons behind Buster Rhymes and then

Marcus Dupree Marcus L. Dupree (born May 22, 1964) is a former American football player. He was born and grew up in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where his playing in high school attracted national attention. A highly touted and sought-after college football re ...

, only having 140 rushing yards and no touchdowns in 1981 and just 60 yards with no scores in 1982. Having been behind others in rushing priority for his entire stint at Oklahoma, Winters finished his collegiate career having rushed 144 times for 693 yards (a 4.8 average) with seven touchdowns. He also recorded four catches for 57 yards.

Professional career

After going unselected in the

1983 NFL draft The 1983 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1983, at the New York She ...

, Winters was signed by the

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He led the team in rushing in their first preseason game and finished the preseason with 32 carries for 102 yards, but ultimately was released during roster cuts. Winters tried out for 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

the month after his release and near the end of October had a tryout with the

. He was signed by the Packers after his tryout as a replacement for

Eddie Lee Ivery Eddie Lee Ivery (born July 30, 1957) is a former professional American football player. Early years through college Ivery was born in McDuffie County, Georgia. He played high school football at Thomson High School in Thomson, Georgia. During th ...

, who was placed on the reserve list. He made his NFL debut in the Packers' 35–21 win over the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

in week 10 and appeared in three further games in the season. He had his only touches in a week 12 loss to the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

, having three kickoff returns for 28 yards. He was released by the Packers in July 1984. Winters signed with the

of the

(USFL) in October 1984; the team had previously selected him in the

1983 USFL Territorial Draft The 1983 USFL Territorial Draft was the first Territorial Draft of the United States Football League (USFL). It took place on January 4, 1983, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an ...

. He did not make the final roster.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winters, Chet 1960 births Winters, Chet Players of American football from Chicago Green Bay Packers players American football running backs Jacksonville High School (Arkansas) alumni Oklahoma Sooners football players