Richard Severn Sprague (November 13, 1931 – May 28, 2008) 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

Washington Huskies football The Washington Huskies football team represents the University of Washington in college football. Washington competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. Husky Stadium, located on cam ...

team and, as a sophomore, was selected by the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

as a first-team defensive player on their

1950 College Football All-America Team The 1950 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1950. The eight selectors recognized by the ...

. Sprague passed on an opportunity to play 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 ...

to study law at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

. At Harvard, he also coached football. He worked as an attorney at the Bogle and Gates law firm for 40 years and at Kemper Development Co. in Bellevue, Washington, for several years after that. He died of prostate cancer in 2008 at age 77 at his home in

Medina, Washington Medina () is a mostly residential city in Eastside (King County, Washington), Eastside, King County, Washington, United States. The city is on a peninsula in Lake Washington, on the opposite shore from Seattle, bordered by Clyde Hill, Washingto ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sprague, Dick 1931 births 2008 deaths American football defensive backs Washington Huskies football players Players of American football from Spokane, Washington Harvard Law School alumni People from Medina, Washington Players of American football from King County, Washington

See also

References