Ronald Allan East (born August 26, 1943) 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 ...

defensive tackle 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 divi ...

, San Diego Chargers,

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

, Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks. He played college football at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering c ...

and Montana State University, following his completion of service to the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

Early years

East attended Lincoln High School, where he practiced football,

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

and track. He was the State's Javelin champion as a senior. He accepted a football scholarship from

, but he was considered too small to eventually become a starter. He decided to leave school after his freshman season and enlist in the

Marine Forces Reserve The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES or MFR), also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. It is the largest command, by assigned pe ...

. After boot camp, he opted to transfer to

Columbia Basin College Columbia Basin College (CBC) is a public community college in Pasco, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. The college offers English as a second language and General Educational Development (GED) ...

. He was a starter at defensive tackle, he received All-Conference honors twice, while helping his team go undefeated and win the NWAC Championship in 1965. In 1966, he transferred to Montana State University for his senior season. He contributed to the team winning the Big Sky conference championship and received All-Conference honors. He also was the Big Sky javelin champion. In 1994, he was inducted into the

Northwest Athletic Conference The Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC), formerly the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC), is a sports association for community colleges in the U.S. states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho, along with the Canadian prov ...

Hall of Fame. In 1999, he was inducted into the Montana State University Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

East was signed as an

undrafted 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

after the 1967 NFL Draft. He was the fifth

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

man and a backup for defensive tackles

Bob Lilly Robert Lewis Lilly (born July 26, 1939), nicknamed "Mr. Cowboy", is an American former professional American football, football player who was a defensive tackle. After playing college football for the TCU Horned Frogs football, TCU Horned Frog ...

and

Jethro Pugh Jethro Pugh Jr. (July 3, 1944 – January 7, 2015) was an American football defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys for fourteen seasons. He played college football at Elizabeth City State College. Early ye ...

Tom Landry Thomas Wade Landry (September 11, 1924 – February 12, 2000) was an American professional football player and coach. He was the first head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL), a position he held for 29 seasons. Dur ...

would later say "Ron East was the most aggressive player he ever coached". After trading the troubled

Lance Rentzel Thomas Lance Rentzel (born October 14, 1943) is a former American football flanker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys, and Los Angeles Rams. He played college football at the University of Oklahoma. ...

, the Cowboys replaced him with future hall of famer

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 East was sent to the San Diego Chargers as part of the "Bambi trade" on May 19, 1971, that also involved Pettis Norman and

Tony Liscio Anthony Liscio (July 2, 1940 – June 18, 2017) was an American football offensive tackle in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at the University of Tulsa. Early years Liscio attended Westinghouse ...

San Diego Chargers

East was a three-year starter at left defensive tackle as part of a castoff

that included

Deacon Jones David D. "Deacon" Jones (December 9, 1938 – June 3, 2013) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers, and the Washington Redskins. H ...

, Dave Costa, Lionel Aldridge and

Coy Bacon Lander McCoy Bacon (August 30, 1942 – December 22, 2008) was a professional American football defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals, and Wash ...

. He and Jones sacked

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 Griese in game 5 of the 1972 Miami Dolphins

Perfect Season A perfect season is a sports season, including any requisite playoff portion, in which a team remains and finishes undefeated and untied. The feat is extremely rare at the professional level of any team sport, and has occurred more commonly at the ...

. Griese went down with a broken leg and dislocated ankle, forcing the Dolphins to replace him with

Earl Morrall Earl Edwin Morrall (May 17, 1934 – April 25, 2014) was an American football player who was a quarterback (and occasional punter) in the National Football League (NFL) for 21 seasons, both a starter and reserve. In the latter capacity, he be ...

until the Super Bowl VII game.

The Hawaiians (WFL)

On March 25, 1974, he signed a contract with The Hawaiians of the World Football League. After his original contract was not honored, he decided to return to the NFL.

Cleveland Browns

On July 16,

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 was traded to the

in exchange for a fifth round draft choice (#128-Cliff Olander). He was named the starter left defensive end. On August 19,

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 ...

, he was traded to the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for a seventh round draft choice (#173-Ken Randle).

Atlanta Falcons

, he started only one game and was mostly a reserve player. In June

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 ...

, he was released after 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 ...

Leeman Bennett Leeman Bennett (born June 20, 1938) is a former American football coach who served at both the collegiate and professional levels, but is best remembered as head coach of the National Football League's Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. ...

was hired.

Seattle Seahawks

On July 18,

, he 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 ...

with the Seattle Seahawks and was named the starter at left defensive tackle. He was waived on August 29, 1978.

Personal life

Ron East had his daughter (Erica East) in 1969. Since his retirement he has been a real estate developer in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

. His wife gave birth to Ron's son (Aaron East) while he was playing in

Super Bowl V Super Bowl V was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

on January 17, 1971. In the 2000s his first grandchildren were born being Emmett Gamble and Greta Gamble.

References

External links

Montana State Hall of Fame bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:East, Ron 1943 births Living people American football defensive tackles Track and field athletes from Portland, Oregon Players of American football from Portland, Oregon Oregon State Beavers football players Columbia Basin Hawks football players Montana State Bobcats football players Montana State Bobcats track and field Dallas Cowboys players San Diego Chargers players Cleveland Browns players Atlanta Falcons players Seattle Seahawks players The Hawaiians players