Gerald Alexander Tinker (born January 19, 1951) is a former

track athlete Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping event ...

and

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 ...

player, winner of gold medal in the

4 x 100 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

Early years

Gerald Tinker attended

Coral Gables Senior High School Coral Gables Senior High School is a secondary school located at 450 Bird Road in Coral Gables, Florida. Coral Gables SHS opened its doors in 1950; its architectural design reflects a Spanish influence, with open courtyards adorned with water fo ...

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...

, where he excelled as a

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 ...

and track athlete. In 1967, Tinker, along with quarterback

Craig Curry Craig Anthony Curry (born July 20, 1961) is a former American football defensive back in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts. He was selected by the Colts in the fourth round of the 19 ...

and Bertram Taylor, was part of an all-black backfield at the previously all-white school. The team was rated the team of the century by the

FHSAA The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) is an organization whose purpose is to organize sports competition for high schools in Florida. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Florida uses ...

Olympics

At the

, Gerald Tinker ran the third leg in the American 4 x 100 metres relay team, which won a gold medal and equalled the United States' own

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

of 38.19. His cousin, Larry Black, also ran a leg in that same relay. Larry Black attended

Miami Killian High School Miami Killian Senior High School is a secondary school located at 10655 SW 97th Ave, Miami, FL 33176 in the Kendall, Florida, Kendall area of unincorporated area, unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida. The school is part of the Miami-Dade Coun ...

where he also was a track star. His school was a football rival of Coral Gables Senior High School that Gerald attended. Despite that, both teamed up to help win Olympic Gold.

NFL career

After the Olympics, Tinker was drafted by the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

in the 2nd round (44th overall) of the

1974 NFL Draft The 1974 NFL draft took place at the Americana Hotel in New York City, New York, on January 29–30, 1974. Each of the 26 NFL teams were granted 17 selections for a total of 442 picks. Many experts consider the 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers to have h ...

as wide receiver. He played for the Falcons (1974–1975) and 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 ...

(1975).

References

1951 births Living people Sportspeople from Coral Gables, Florida Players of American football from Miami Track and field athletes from Miami American male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field American football return specialists American football wide receivers Atlanta Falcons players Green Bay Packers players Kent State Golden Flashes football players Memphis Tigers football players Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Track and field athletes in the National Football League {{widereceiver-1950s-stub