Margene Adkins (born April 30, 1947) is a former professional

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 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 ...

for 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 ...

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

and

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 ...

. He also was a member of the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

and the

Chicago Winds The Chicago Winds was the World Football League's ill-fated 1975 successor to the Chicago Fire. The team was so named because Chicago was nicknamed "The Windy City." The Winds played at Soldier Field and the team was assigned to the WFL's Weste ...

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 ...

at Henderson County Junior College.

Early years

Margene Adkins attended Kirkpatrick High School, where he practiced

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

until his junior year, when he began playing

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 ...

. He played

at Henderson County Junior College in

Athens, Texas Athens is a city and the county seat of Henderson County, Texas, Henderson County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population was 12,857. The city has called itself the "black-eyed pea, Blac ...

, where he participated in the Junior Rose Bowl twice. He had a brief stay at Wichita University, before dropping out of school.

Professional career

Ottawa Rough Riders (CFL)

While still a

teenager Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...

, he joined the

of the

as a wide receiver. In 1969, Adkins was voted to the CFL All-Star team after setting a regular season record for the highest average gain per pass reception at 25.0 yards, a record that stood for twenty-eight years (broken by

Milt Stegall Milton Eugene Stegall (born January 25, 1970) is a former professional gridiron football player who played 17 years of professional football, three years in the National Football League with the Cincinnati Bengals and 14 years in the Canadian Foo ...

). He was part of both Ottawa's Grey Cup winning teams in 1968 and 1969, catching an important 70-yard TD pass in the 1968 game when the Rough Riders defeated the Calgary Stampeders 24-21. Because he signed his original contract as a 19-year-old minor, he played out his option. He played three years, registering 47, 32 and 56 receptions, while averaging 10

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s per season.

Dallas Cowboys

Adkins was selected by the

in the second round (49th overall) of the

1970 NFL Draft The 1970 National Football League Draft was the 35th National Football League Draft and the first of the league's modern era, following the merger of the National Football League with the American Football League. It was held on January 27–28, 1 ...

. Having star wide receivers such as

Lance Alworth Lance Dwight Alworth (born August 3, 1940), nicknamed “Bambi”, is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) an ...

and

Bob Hayes Robert Lee Hayes (December 20, 1942 – September 18, 2002), nicknamed "Bullet Bob", was an Olympic gold medalist sprinter who then became an American football split end in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys (for 11 seasons). ...

, the team used Adkins primarily as a punt and

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

during his two seasons, when injuries didn't limit him. In

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

, he was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

, after playing in 5 games. In

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

, he only played in three games because of injuries and was placed on the team's

taxi squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. Although he wasn't on the active roster when the Cowboys won

Super Bowl VI Super Bowl VI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...

, he still received a ring and a full share of the playoff bonuses. In

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

, he asked the Cowboys to trade him, so he was sent to the

in exchange for second round draft choice (#39-

John Babinecz John Michael Babinecz (born July 27, 1950) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Oilers and Chicago Bears. He also was a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Canadian Footb ...

New Orleans Saints

, he was acquired after he impressed the

during a 1971 preseason game, where he had 3 receptions for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns. He led the NFL in both

kickoff Kickoff or kick-off may refer to * Kick-off (association football) * Kickoff (gridiron football) * ''Kick Off'' (series), a series of computer association football games * ''Kick Off'' (album), a 1985 album by Onyanko Club * ''Kick Off'' (mag ...

returns with 1,020 yards and a 23.7 average, even though he played through an ankle injury. On June 5, 1973, he was traded to the

along with punter

Julian Fagan Julian Walter Fagan III (born February 21, 1948) is a former American football punter in the National Football League. He played for the New Orleans Saints and New York Jets. He played college football for the Ole Miss Rebels The Ole Miss R ...

and an eight-round draft choice (#192-Larry Lightfoot), in exchange for

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 Ame ...

Bob Davis, punter

Steve O'Neal Steve O'Neal (born February 4, 1946 in Hearne, Texas) is a former American football punter and a wide receiver. O'Neal is best known for kicking a 98-yard punt during the American Football League game between the New York Jets and the Denver ...

and a fourth round draft choice (#83- Clint Haslerig).

New York Jets

Injuries also hampered his 1973 season with the

. He started 5 games, posting 6 receptions for 109 yards. After he injured his knee during the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

offseason, Adkins was placed on injured reserve and eventually released before the start of the 1975 season.

Chicago Winds (WFL)

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, he joined the

of the

, catching 12 passes for 130 and one

. The Winds folded before the season ended, finishing 1-4. Adkins was selected by the

San Antonio Wings The San Antonio Wings were an American football team who played in the World Football League in 1975. The team started as the Florida Blazers in 1974, then moved to San Antonio in 1975 and became the San Antonio Wings. History The Florida Blazers ...

in the

dispersal draft, but he didn't play for the team.

Personal life

Adkins worked as a

firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

for

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

in his hometown of

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

References

External links

Margene Strikes it rich as a Cowboy in 'limbo'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adkins, Margene 1947 births Living people Players of American football from Fort Worth, Texas Trinity Valley Cardinals football players Wichita State Shockers football players American football return specialists Canadian football wide receivers Chicago Winds players Dallas Cowboys players New Orleans Saints players New York Jets players Ottawa Rough Riders players Players of Canadian football from Texas