Richard Robert Saul (February 5, 1948 – April 15, 2012) 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 ...

offensive lineman who played 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 ...

(NFL) from 1970 through 1981, all with the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football at Michigan State University. He had two brothers that played in the NFL. His older brother

Bill Saul William Neal Saul (November 19, 1940 – September 12, 2006) was an American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers, New Orleans Saints, and Detroit Lions. He played college foot ...

and his twin brother Ron Saul, who also played with the Spartans.

Professional career

After playing the role of reserve lineman from 1970 to 1974, Saul replaced

Ken Iman Kenneth Charles Iman (February 8, 1939 – November 13, 2010) was an American football center who played 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Green Bay Packers and the Los Angeles Rams, from 1961 to 1975. Playing center Ima ...

as the starting

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

with the Rams in 1975. That year, the Rams beat the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

in the divisional round of the 1975-76 NFL playoffs, rushing for 237 yards. However, the team lost to 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 divi ...

in the NFC championship game. In 1976, the Rams beat the Cowboys in the divisional round of the 1976-77 NFL playoffs, rushing for 120 yards. But they lost the NFC championship game to the

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 ...

, and, the following year, lost the divisional round of the 1977-78 NFL playoffs to the same team. They finally beat the Vikings in the 1978-79 NFL playoffs. However, they lost again to the Cowboys in the NFC championship game. In the 1979-80 NFL playoffs the Rams defeated the Cowboys and the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

to win the NFC title, rushing for 159 and 216 yards, respectively. But they had a more difficult time running against the Pittsburgh Steelers, only 107 yards, losing Super Bowl XIV. In the

1980-81 NFL playoffs __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab u ...

, the Rams lost to the Cowboys again, this time in a wild card game. In Saul's final year, 1981, the Rams deteriorated to a won-lost record of 6-10, his final game being a 30-7 loss to the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

. Saul was selected to six

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

s (

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

, 1978,

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

, 1980,

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

) during his career.

Death

Saul died on April 15, 2012, at the age of 64 after having suffered with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

for nine years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saul, Rich 1948 births 2012 deaths People from Butler, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania American football offensive linemen Burials at Pacific View Memorial Park Michigan State Spartans football players Los Angeles Rams players National Conference Pro Bowl players American twins Twin sportspeople Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in California