Robert Mitchell Awalt (born April 9, 1964) is a former

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 ...

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 ...

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) for the St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals,

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 ...

, and Buffalo Bills. He played college football at

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

Early years

Born in Landstuhl, Germany, he attended Valley High School, where he played as a

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 ...

. A coach failed him in physical education, preventing him from playing football one season. Awalt accepted a football scholarship from the

University of Nevada The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12 ...

and spent one season as a

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. As a sophomore, he transferred to

Sacramento City College Sacramento City College (SCC) is a public community college in Sacramento, California. SCC is part of the Los Rios Community College District and had an enrollment of 25,307 in 2009. It is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community ...

and was converted to a

. As a junior, he transferred to

, where he posted 15 receptions for 181 yards and 2

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 Amer ...

s. That season, he was affected with thoracic outlet syndrome; the neurovascular problem was corrected by removing a rib and rerouting an artery and nerve. In his last year, he led the team with 45 receptions (tenth in the conference) for 541 yards and 2

Professional career

St. Louis / Phoenix Cardinals

Awalt was selected by 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 third round (62nd overall) of the 1987 NFL Draft. Although he entered his rookie season as a backup, starter

Jay Novacek Jay McKinley Novacek (born October 24, 1962) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League who played for the St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals (1985–1989) and the Dallas Cowboys (1990–1995). Novacek was a five-time Pro ...

suffered a fractured right elbow which allowed him to be promoted mid-way through the season. He would end up having a year to remember, registering 9 receptions in each of the first two games after replacing Novacek and tying a franchise single-game record held by

Jackie Smith Jackie Larue Smith (born February 23, 1940) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League for the St. Louis Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Northwestern Louisiana State College (Northwestern ...

. He finished with 42 receptions which was good for second among NFC tight ends and fell one short of the franchise record for receptions in a season for a rookie (

Gern Nagler Robert Gern Nagler (February 23, 1932 – April 9, 2020) was an American football end who played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Early life Nagler was born in Marysville, California and raised in nearby Arboga He attended ...

). He also had 9 starts, 526 receiving yards (second on the team) and 6 receiving touchdowns receptions (tying the franchise record for rookies). He was voted rookie of the year by the

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and '' Sporting News''. In

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

, he passed Novacek on the depth chart and became the starter at

(15 starts). Although he tore two ligaments in his left ankle during October, he didn't miss any games. He finished third on the team with 39 receptions for 454 and 4 receiving

s. In

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

, with

Gary Hogeboom Gary Keith Hogeboom (born August 21, 1958) is an American former football quarterback, real estate developer, and television personality. He played in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts and Phoenix Cardinals. ...

instead of Neil Lomax as the team's starting

, his production fell to 33 receptions for 360 yards and no touchdowns. In

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

Joe Bugel Joseph John Bugel (March 10, 1940 – June 28, 2020) was an American football coach in the National Football League (NFL). For many years, he was acknowledged as the greatest offensive line coach in the league, particularly with the Washington ...

was hired as the new

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

and after Awalt missed three preseason games with a hyperextended right knee, he was surprisingly traded to the

in exchange for an eighth round pick (#209-Scott Evans) on August 29.

Dallas Cowboys

, the

acquired Awalt looking for him to recover his previous form and compete with Novacek (who was acquired in

Plan B free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

) for the starting

job. He would end up having only 13 receptions for 133 yards, falling behind Novacek and missing the last 3 games because of a back injury. The next year, his production fell to 5 receptions for 57 yards, but he was still being used in two-tight end sets.

Denver Broncos

On April 1, 1992, he signed in

with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

. He was waived on August 31, after falling behind in

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

Clarence Kay Clarence Hubert Kay (born July 30, 1961) is a former professional American football player. A 6'4", 237-lb. tight end from the University of Georgia, Kay was selected by the Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American footbal ...

, Reggie Johnson and

Shannon Sharpe Shannon Sharpe (born June 26, 1968) is an American former football tight end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the Denver Broncos. Regarded as one of the greatest tight ends of all time, he ranks th ...

Buffalo Bills

On September 8, 1992, he was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the Buffalo Bills to replace an injured

Keith McKeller Terrell Keith McKeller (born July 9, 1964, in Birmingham, Alabama) is a former American football tight end for the Buffalo Bills from 1987 to 1993. Before his NFL career, McKeller attended Jacksonville State University on a basketball scholars ...

. He was mainly used on

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 ...

and faced the Cowboys in Super Bowl XXVIII. On December 30,

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

, 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 ...

with a

rotator cuff The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the human shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion. Of the seven scapulohumeral muscles, four make up the rotator cuff. The four muscles are the supraspi ...

injury.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Awalt, Rob 1964 births Living people German players of American football Players of American football from Sacramento, California American football tight ends Nevada Wolf Pack football players Sacramento City Panthers football players San Diego State Aztecs football players St. Louis Cardinals (football) players Phoenix Cardinals players Dallas Cowboys players Buffalo Bills players