Richard Maurice Wilkins (August 28, 1925 – October 21, 1997) 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 ...

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

who played 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 ...

. 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 ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

College career

Wilkins served in the Marine Corps during WWII before receiving a discharge after his vision was impaired when he was hit in the eye with a shell casing during training. He enrolled at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

and joined the Webfoots

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

as a forward and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

team as a pitcher. As a freshman, Wilkins was the leading scorer in the 1945 NCAA tournament with 22 points per game. He became the first Oregon player to score 1,000 career points and finished with 1,186. Wilkins was talked into joining the football team as a senior. In his lone season playing college football he led the Webfoots with 27 receptions (a

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including a ...

record) for 520 yards and five touchdowns and was named first-team All-Pacific Coast.

Professional career

Wilkins was drafted by 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 the 25th round of the

1948 NFL Draft The 1948 National Football League Draft was held on December 19, 1947, at the Fort Pitt Hotel in Pittsburgh. This was the second year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick determined by lottery, with the previous year's winner Chicago Bea ...

, but instead signed with the

Los Angeles Dons The Los Angeles Dons were an American football team in the newly formed football league the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946 to 1949, and played their home games in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Dons were the first profes ...

of the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

. After the AAFC folded Wilkins was selected by the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

in the third round of the 1950 AAFC dispersal draft. He was recalled by the Marine Corps before the draft and missed the next two seasons. Wilkins' rights were traded to the

Dallas Texans Dallas Texans may refer to: American football *Dallas Texans (NFL), 1952 team in the National Football League *Dallas Texans (AFL), 1960–1962 team that is now the Kansas City Chiefs * Dallas Texans (arena), 1990–1993 Arena Football League team ...

in 1952 as part of an eleven player trade for

Les Richter Leslie Alan Richter (October 6, 1930 – June 12, 2010) was an American football linebacker who played for the Los Angeles Rams of National Football League (NFL). He also served as the head of operations for NASCAR and president of the Riverside ...

. Wilkins led the Texans with 32 receptions, 416 receiving yards and three touchdown catches in 1952. He did not play in 1953 in order to focus on his lumber business in Oregon. He was acquired by the Giants in a trade in 1954 and played in four games before suffering a shoulder injury.

Personal life

Wilkins was the father of Olympic gold medalist

Mac Wilkins Mac Maurice Wilkins (born November 15, 1950) is an American athlete, who competed mainly in the discus throw. He was born in Eugene, Oregon and graduated in 1969 from Beaverton High School in Beaverton, Oregon. College Distance running coach Bi ...

References

External links

Oregon Athletic Hall of Fame bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkins, Dick 1925 births 1997 deaths Players of American football from Portland, Oregon American football ends Oregon Ducks football players New York Giants players Dallas Texans (NFL) players Los Angeles Dons players Forwards (basketball) Oregon Ducks men's basketball players Oregon Ducks baseball players