Richard B. Easterly (born April 13, 1939) is a former American

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

player. He played wide receiver the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL), and won the

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

with the Tiger-Cats in 1963. Easterly 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 ...

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, participating in the Syracuse University 1959 National Football Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Liberty Bowl where he was the MVP, Blue Gray Game, North/South Game, and the US Bowl. He also went to the College Baseball World Series. He was invited to training camp for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

but wound up playing for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats from 1962 to 1964. In his first CFL game, he scored two

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

. His most productive period was his rookie season, when, despite playing just four games, he caught 15 passes for 378 yards (25.2 yards/catch), one for 79 yards, and five

. He also caught 15 passes in 1963 but only one in 1964. He also served as a punt and kick returner. In 2012, Easterley was inducted into the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame.

References

1939 births Living people American football quarterbacks American players of Canadian football Canadian football wide receivers Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Syracuse Orange football players Players of American football from New York (state) Syracuse Orangemen baseball players {{Canadianfootball-bio-stub