Richard Lee Maegle (born Moegle;
September 14, 1934 – July 4, 2021) 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
halfback 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 ...
(NFL) 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 ...
,
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 ...
, and
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...
. 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
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...
, where he was a consensus
All-American in 1954.
Early years
Moegle attended
Taylor High School, where he played football and basketball. He accepted a scholarship from
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...
and attended as a 16-year-old freshman. His play was limited in his sophomore season (1952), after he was lost with a hand cut he suffered trying to open a classroom window that was stuck.
In 1953, he teamed up with fullback
Dave "Kosse" Johnson (the nation's second leading rusher), to win a share of the
Southwest Conference
The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...
title with the
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
, while registering 833 rushing yards with a 7.3-yard average, which led the nation. In the
1954 Cotton Bowl Classic
The 1954 Cotton Bowl Classic, part of the 1953 bowl game season, took place on January 1, 1954, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. The competing teams were the Alabama Crimson Tide, representing the Southeastern Conference (SEC) as conference ...
against
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
, Moegle was involved in one of college football's most famous plays. With
Rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima
''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...
leading 7–6, Moegle broke through on a
sweep
Sweep or swept may refer to:
Cleaning
* Sweep, the action of using a brush to clean
* Chimney sweep, a worker who clears ash and soot from chimneys
* Street sweeper, a person's occupation, or a machine that cleans streets
* Swept quartz, a clean ...
from Rice's five-yard line, and was running down the sideline in front of Alabama's bench on his way to a touchdown. Alabama's
Tommy Lewis, without putting on his helmet, jumped off the bench and tackled Moegle. Seeing what happened, referee Cliff Shaw awarded a 95-yard touchdown on the play, and Rice went on to win the game 28–6.
Moegle finished with 265 rushing yards, which was a Cotton Bowl Classic record until the
2008 game when
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
's
Tony Temple
Tony Temple (born September 13, 1985) is a former starting running back for the Missouri Tigers football team representing the University of Missouri. Temple played for the Tigers from 2004 to 2007. He entered the 2008 NFL Draft, but was not c ...
rushed for 281 yards.
He finished with game records of 265 yards on 11 carries for an average of 24.1 yards per attempt and 3 touchdowns. Moegle and Lewis later appeared on ''
The Ed Sullivan Show
''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...
'' to talk about the play.
As a senior, he rushed 905 yards and led the nation in punt returns. He finished his college career after setting 26 school records, including career touchdowns (22), interceptions in a game (3) and total points in a season (72).
In 1979, he was inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...
. In 1970, he was inducted into the Rice Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1980, he was inducted into the
Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
Professional career
San Francisco 49ers
Moegle was selected by 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 ...
in the first round (10th overall) of the
1955 NFL Draft
The 1955 NFL season, 1955 National Football League NFL draft, draft was held January 27–28, 1955 at the Warwick New York Hotel, Warwick Hotel in New York City.
This was the ninth year that the List of first overall National Football League Dra ...
. He entered the league as a 20-year-old rookie and was moved between the offense and the defense, but still recorded 6 interceptions. In
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...
, he became the starter at
safety
Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk.
Meanings
There are ...
, posting 6 interceptions.
In
1957
1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...
, he posted 8 interceptions. The next year, he played in only 4 games after injuring his knee against the
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
. In
1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
, he played in 8 games.
On March 13,
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* Ja ...
, he was traded 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 ...
in exchange for a first-round draft choice (#6-
Jimmy Johnson).
Pittsburgh Steelers
In
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* Ja ...
, he was named the starter at safety and registered 6 interceptions. On December 22, he was traded to the
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...
in exchange for
offensive tackle
Offensive may refer to:
* Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative
* Offensive (military), an attack
* Offensive language
** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
Dick Klein and safety
Bill Butler.
Dallas Cowboys
After being acquired by the Cowboys in part for being a famous player in the state of Texas, he was named the starter at safety in
1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 ...
. At the end of the season, he had surgery on his right foot. On July 30,
1962
Events January
* January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand.
* January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism.
* January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...
, he was waived after re-injuring his foot in
training camp.
Personal life
During his playing days, his last name was spelled "Moegle"; because it was constantly mispronounced, he changed his name to "Maegle" to be more phonetically correct in 1962. He was a color announcer for the
Houston Oilers
The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...
and a manager of the Tidelands and Tides II hotels.
He died on July 4, 2021, at his home in Houston, Texas.
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moegle, Dickie
1934 births
2021 deaths
People from Taylor, Texas
Players of American football from Texas
American football halfbacks
American football defensive backs
Rice Owls football players
San Francisco 49ers players
Pittsburgh Steelers players
Dallas Cowboys players
All-American college football players
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Western Conference Pro Bowl players