George Henry Sauer Jr. (November 10, 1943 – May 7, 2013) 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 ...

wide receiver who played six seasons for the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

, and later played in the

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...

. 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

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

. His father, George Henry Sauer Sr., played for 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 ...

from 1935 through 1937.

Biography

Sauer played

for the

as a wide receiver. He was a member of the undefeated 1963 Longhorns, and of the 1964 Longhorns that defeated previously unbeaten

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 ...

in the

1965 Orange Bowl The 1965 Orange Bowl, part of the 1964–65 bowl season, was the 31st edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Friday, January 1. Part of the 1964–65 bowl season, It matched the top-ranked Alab ...

. After being teammates at Texas, Sauer and quarterback

Jim Hudson James Clark Hudson (March 31, 1943 – June 25, 2013) was a professional American Football defensive back. He was one of the first players to ever win a national championship in college and a Super Bowl as a professional. Hudson played for the Ne ...

continued as teammates for the

for five seasons, 1965 through 1969. Sauer led the

(AFL) in receptions in the 1967 season. In 1968, he started and caught eight passes for the Jets in the third

AFL-NFL World Championship Game 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 game ...

, helping defeat the NFL's heavily favored

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 ...

. His eight receptions and 133 yards led all receivers in that game. Sauer retired at the peak of his career following the

1970 NFL season The 1970 NFL season was the 51st regular season of the National Football League, and the first one after the consummation of the AFL–NFL merger. The merged league realigned into two conferences: all 10 of the former American Football League, ...

because he considered professional football dehumanizing. In a 1971 interview with the Institute for the Study of Sport and Society, Sauer said, "When you get to the college and professional levels, the coaches still treat you as an adolescent. They know damn well that you were never given a chance to become responsible or self-disciplined. Even in the pros, you were told when to go to bed, when to turn your lights off, when to wake up, when to eat and what to eat. You even have to live and eat together like you were in a boys’ camp." Sauer's father, on the subject of his son's retirement, stated, "He definitely does not like to be regimented." In spite of his disillusionment about playing professional football, Sauer returned to play for the

New York Stars New York Stars could refer to: *New York Stars (WBL), a team that played two seasons in the Women's Professional Basketball League before disbanding in 1980 *New York Stars (WFL), a team in the World Football League that relocated in 1974 and becam ...

of the

in 1974. That season, Sauer caught 38 passes for 547 yards, good for 14.4 yards per catch and three touchdowns. After retiring, Sauer pursued writing and completed a novel. He also coached a minor league football team in the late 1970s. As of 1994, the same year as his father's death, Sauer was a textbook graphics specialist living in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...

. He died on May 7, 2013, in

Westerville, Ohio Westerville is a city in Franklin and Delaware counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. A northeastern suburb of Columbus, the population was 39,190 at the 2020 census. Westerville is the home of Otterbein University. Westerville was once known a ...

, of

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

, having suffered from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sauer Jr., George 1943 births 2013 deaths American football wide receivers Charlotte Hornets (WFL) players New York Stars players New York Jets players Texas Longhorns football players American Football League All-League players American Football League All-Star players Sportspeople from Sheboygan, Wisconsin Players of American football from Wisconsin American Football League players Waco High School alumni

Biography

See also

References