David Arthur Overstreet (September 20, 1958 – June 24, 1984) was an American professional

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 ...

player who was a running back in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and National Football League (NFL). 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 coach Barry Switzer and the Oklahoma Sooners as a halfback out of the wishbone offense.

Biography

A native of Big Sandy, Texas, David Overstreet prepped at Big Sandy High School and played his

at the University of Oklahoma. One of Overstreet's great moments as a Sooner happened on October 4, 1980 when the senior halfback ran for 258 yards on 18 carries against the Colorado Buffaloes as Oklahoma won big, 82-42. He had long runs of 84 and 53 yards in the contest. For Overstreet's senior season, the 5-11, 180-pound running back led the University of Oklahoma to a 10-2 record, a No. 3 ranking nationally, and the Big Eight Conference Championship while rushing for a team-leading 678 yards on 96 carries with six touchdowns. He was drafted in the

1981 NFL draft The 1981 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 28–29, 1981, at the New York She ...

by the Miami Dolphins in the first round, 13th pick overall. A contract dispute with the Dolphins led him to sign with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League, who, under the ownership of Nelson Skalbania, tried to buy a big money winning team. His first season (

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) was successful, as he rushed for 952 yards and was the Alouettes rookie of the year. His second season, with the newly renamed and dreadful Montreal Concordes, was plagued by injury, and he only gained 190 yards rushing. He agreed to return to the Dolphins in 1983, and showed much promise, rushing for 392 yards in 14 games with a 4.6 yards per carry average. Overstreet was killed in a car accident in June 1984. He was driving northbound in his 1980 Mercedes on Texas State Highway 155, when his car swerved off the road about 10 miles northeast of

Tyler Tyler may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name * Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer * John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...

into gasoline pumps at a service station and exploded. The Dolphins wore a helmet decal with the number 20 in his memory during their 1984 season in which they reached

Super Bowl XIX Super Bowl XIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 1984 Miami Dolphins season, Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 1984 San Francisco 49ers season, San Francisco 49 ...

. He was survived by his wife, Johnnie, and son, David Overstreet II, who is currently an NFL assistant coach, first with

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

and later Chicago, and grand-nephew Jalen Overstreet.

Statistics

References

External links

David Overstreet Career Stats; Oklahoma Sooners
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Overstreet, David 1958 births 1984 deaths People from Big Sandy, Texas American football running backs Oklahoma Sooners football players Players of Canadian football from Texas Canadian football running backs Montreal Alouettes players Montreal Concordes players Miami Dolphins players Players of American football from Texas Road incident deaths in Texas