Richard Earl Shiner (born July 18, 1942) is a former professional
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 ...
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
who played in eleven
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) seasons from 1964 to 1974 for the
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
,
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 ( ...
,
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 ...
,
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. ...
,
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...
, and
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
.
College
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 ...
at the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
. In his first collegiate start, Shiner led Maryland to the school's first victory against
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...
in the
37-game series.
Professional football
Shiner was
drafted in the seventh round of the
1964 NFL Draft
The 1964 National Football League draft was held in Chicago, Illinois, at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers on Monday, December 2, 1963.
The first overall pick was Dave Parks, an end from Texas Tech, selected by the San Francisco 49ers.
The AFL dra ...
by the
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
. Shiner was also selected in the 20th round of the
1964 AFL Draft by the
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...
.
Shiner played sparingly in his first four seasons in the NFL. From 1964 to 1966 with the Redskins, he backed up future Hall of Fame quarterback
Sonny Jurgensen
Christian Adolph "Sonny" Jurgensen III (born August 23, 1934) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins. He was inducted int ...
and started only one game, in 1965. Moving to 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 ( ...
for 1967, Shiner was a backup to former All-Pro
Frank Ryan, and again saw few chances to play, starting no games and attempting only nine passes all season.
Shiner's big break came on May 14, 1968, when the Browns traded Shiner, a draft choice to be named later and defensive tackle Frank Parker to 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 ...
for another quarterback,
Bill Nelsen
William Keith Nelsen (January 29, 1941 – April 11, 2019) was a football player who played quarterback collegiately for the University of Southern California and professionally for both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns. He was known ...
, and safety
Jim Bradshaw, with both quarterbacks getting more playing chances with their new teams. Shiner took over as the starting quarterback for the Steelers in week 4 from
Kent Nix
Alvin Kent Nix (born March 12, 1944) is a former American football player who played professionally as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas Christian University (TCU). Nix is the son of Emery N ...
, in a game in Cleveland against the Browns, facing Nelsen. Shiner started the rest of the season. He went on to start nine games for the 1969 Steelers (the first season in which
Chuck Noll
Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to:
People
Arts and entertainment
* Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet
* Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer
* ...
served as Steelers head coach), including their Opening Day win over the Detroit Lions. That first win was the only one of the season, with the Steelers going 1–13 on the year, with a defense that gave up the most points in the NFL—an average of nearly 29 points per game. Fittingly, the final play of the 1969 season saw Shiner sacked by the
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 league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
'
Doug Atkins
Douglas Leon Atkins (May 8, 1930 – December 30, 2015) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end for the Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, and New Orleans Saints in the National Football League (NFL). He played colleg ...
on the final play of Atkins' Hall of Fame career.
After Pittsburgh took future Hall of Fame quarterback
Terry Bradshaw
Terry Paxton Bradshaw (born September 2, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League (NFL). Since 1994, he has been a television sports analyst an ...
with the first pick of the 1970 draft, Shiner was traded to 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. ...
in April, 1970 for running back John "Frenchy" Fuqua and linebacker Henry Davis. and backed up yet another Hall of Fame quarterback,
Fran Tarkenton
Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, 1940) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at ...
. After one season with the Giants, he moved on to the
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...
.
On September 16, 1973, while playing for the Falcons in a game against the
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 league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
, Shiner became the
first person to post a perfect passer rating, during what was the first season in which the statistic was officially kept. However, multiple other quarterbacks are recognized retroactively to have accomplished this feat prior to the
1973 season. Shiner completed 13 of 15 pass attempts for 227 yards and 3 touchdowns, with no interceptions in a 62-7 destruction of Atlanta's archrival. The next week in being shut out against the
Rams
In engineering, RAMS (reliability, availability, maintainability and safety)Jim Plunkett
James William Plunkett (born December 5, 1947) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for sixteen seasons. He achieved his greatest professional success during his final eight seasons with the ...
. He appeared in one game completing two of four passes as the Patriots blew out Houston 32-0 in week 11.
Shiner's career came to a close with one game for the 1974
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
. He was sent into his only appearance in the 1974 regular season with the Patriots holding a 35–3 lead against the
Baltimore Colts
The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...
. After leading the Patriots on an 80-yard touchdown drive, Shiner took himself out of the game to give third-string quarterback
Neil Graff
Neil Graff is a former quarterback in the National Football League. He was drafted in the sixteenth round of the 1972 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings.
He later played with the New England Patriots for two seasons, making his first appearance i ...
a chance to play in Graff's first NFL regular-season contest. In an interview four decades later, Shiner said, "I wanted Neil Graff to get experience. Neil was a good kid, and I knew my time in the NFL was coming to an end."
Post NFL
After retiring from the NFL, Shiner worked in the beer distribution and copier businesses. After retiring, he has been the backfield coach for the football team at
Bishop McDevitt High School in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...
and has also been an assistant coach at Hershey High School in
Hershey, Pennsylvania
Hershey is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to The Hershey Company, which was founded by candy magnate Milton S. Hershey.
The community is lo ...
.
[Klingaman, ibid.]
In 2007, Shiner was named a member of the
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...
Football Legends Class. He also is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Hall of Fame, Maryland M Club Hall of Fame, and
Lebanon (PA) High School Hall of Fame.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shiner, Dick
1942 births
Living people
People from Lebanon, Pennsylvania
American football quarterbacks
Players of American football from Pennsylvania
Maryland Terrapins football players
Washington Redskins players
Cleveland Browns players
Pittsburgh Steelers players
New York Giants players
Atlanta Falcons players
New England Patriots players