Donald Perry Heater (born June 22, 1950) is a former
American football running back who played for
St. Louis Cardinals of the
National Football League (NFL).
Heater played collegiate football for the
Montana Tech Orediggers
Montana Technological University, popularly known as Montana Tech, is a public university in Butte, Montana. Founded in 1900 as the Montana State School of Mines, the university became affiliated with the University of Montana in 1994. After un ...
, where he set three
NAIA records and 14 school records, and was named to the NAIA All-America team twice, as a junior and as a senior.
[ He ended his college career with more rushing yards than any other Montana collegiate, with over 4000 yards.][ His NAIA records set in 1971 included most rushes in a season (319) and most rushing yards in season (1,797). The '' New York Times'' wrote a story about Heater on October 31, 1971, during his senior year, stating that some scouts rated him higher than Cornell running back Ed Marinaro, who later played for the Minnesota Vikings.
Heater was drafted by the Cardinals in the 6th round of the ]1972 NFL Draft
The 1972 NFL draft was held February 1–2, 1972, at the Essex House in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Buffalo Bills selected defensive end Walt Patulski.
Player selections
Round one
Round two
...
with the 135th overall selection.[ He was signed by the ]Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
, who waived him before he played any games for them.[ The Cardinals then resigned him and he played two games for the Cardinals before being waived again, after the Cardinals acquired running backs Cannonball Butler and Tom Woodeshick.][ He played in the Cardinals first two games of the 1972 season on September 17 and 24, 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 ...
and Washington Redskins, respectively. He then completed his degree in mining engineering at Montana Tech.[ In late 1972 he received an invitation to tryout with the Dallas Cowboys in February 1973 but he was cut before training camp.][
Heater may have been partially responsible for defensive end Lyle Alzado being drafted by the NFL. In 1970, Denver Broncos' coach Stan Jones had car trouble in ]Butte, Montana
Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the ...
and stopped by Montana Tech while waiting for his car to be repaired. Heater's coach showed Jones films of Heater playing in a game against Alzado's school, Yankton College. Jones was so impressed with Alzado on the films that Denver drafted him in the 1971 NFL Draft
The 1971 National Football League draft was held January 28–29, 1971, at the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City, New York. The Boston Patriots, who did not officially change their name to New England Patriots until after the draft, used th ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heater, Don
1950 births
American football running backs
St. Louis Cardinals (football) players
Montana Tech Orediggers football players
People from Helena, Montana
Living people