Richard Rehbein (November 22, 1955 – August 6, 2001) 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 wi ...

coach for twenty-three seasons in the NFL, filling a variety of roles as an offensive position coach.

Playing career

Rehbein attended Ripon College, where he was a Division III

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n center. He was part of 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) North division. It is the t ...

' 1977 training camp but did not make their final roster.Rehbein joins Patriots, Haluchak joins Rams
New York Giants press release. Assessed 26 September 2007.

Coaching career

Starting in 1979, Rehbein served as the Packers'

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

coach before moving to the USFL's Los Angeles Express, then the NFL's

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

in 1984. In Minnesota, Rehbein served in multiple offensive coaching capacities and in 1992, joined 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 divisio ...

' coaching staff as a

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

s coach. After also coaching the Giants' wide receivers and offensive line, Rehbein left the Giants to be the

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 Am ...

s coach of the

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 ...

in 2000. Though Rehbein's time with the Patriots was short due to his death in 2001, he played a large role in the franchise by championing the draft selection of then-little-known Tom Brady. Chosen in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft with the 199th pick, Brady would then go on to win 3 MVPs and a record 7

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the gam ...

s, including 6 with the Patriots.

Death

Given a few days off by Patriots head coach Bill Belichick in the middle of his second training camp with the team, Rehbein used the time to exercise at a gym with his 12-year-old daughter Sarabeth on August 5, 2001. While running on a treadmill, Rehbein blacked out but regained consciousness enough to enter an ambulance under his own power. He was transferred to

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, where tests later that day concluded his loss of consciousness was due to a heart condition he had been diagnosed with in 1988,

cardiomyopathy Cardiomyopathy is a group of diseases that affect the heart muscle. Early on there may be few or no symptoms. As the disease worsens, shortness of breath, feeling tired, and swelling of the legs may occur, due to the onset of heart failure. ...

. That night, Rehbein contacted then-Patriots

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach r ...

Charlie Weis and told him he would be back with the Patriots in time for their 7 PM EDT coaches' meeting the next day.Glory tinged with sorrow
The Boston Globe. Accessed 26 September 2007. On the following morning, Rehbein underwent a stress test on his heart. During the recovery period directly following the test, Rehbein lost consciousness again but did not regain it as he had the day before. He was declared dead shortly thereafter, with cardiomyopathy declared his cause of death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rehbein, Dick 1955 births 2001 deaths American football centers Green Bay Packers coaches Minnesota Vikings coaches New York Giants coaches New England Patriots coaches Ripon Red Hawks football players United States Football League coaches Sportspeople from Green Bay, Wisconsin Deaths from cardiomyopathy