Willard Charles Dewveall (April 29, 1936November 20, 2006) 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 with ...

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

, the first player to jump from 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 ...

to the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

. He left the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

of the

NFL 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 major ...

after the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

season to play for the

AFL champion For its first nine seasons, 1960 through 1968, the American Football League determined its champion via a single playoff game between the winners of its two divisions (although ties in the standings in 1963 (Eastern) and 1968 (Western) necessitat ...

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

. He was the only one to switch leagues for five years, until kicker

Pete Gogolak Peter Kornel Gogolak (; hu, Gogolák Péter Kornél; born April 18, 1942) is a former American football placekicker in the American Football League (AFL) for the Buffalo Bills, and in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants. ...

went from the AFL to the NFL in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. In

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

, Dewveall caught the (then) longest pass reception for a

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 ...

in professional football history, 98 yards, from

Jacky Lee Jack Ross "Jacky" Lee (July 11, 1938 – May 2, 2016) was an American quarterback who played professional football in the American Football League for all ten of its seasons (1960–1969). After playing football, baseball, and basketball at Ellet ...

, against the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

. It is still the longest receiving touchdown in Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans franchise history. He was an American Football League All-Star in 1962. He was Dandy Don's favorite receiver, and All-American at SMU. Selected by the Bears in the second round of the

1958 NFL draft The 1958 National Football League draft had its first four rounds held on December 2, 1957, and its final twenty-six rounds on January 28, 1958. Both sessions were held at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia. This was the 12th and final year in ...

, Dewveall played a year 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 ...

with the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

under head coach

Bud Grant Harry Peter "Bud" Grant Jr. (born May 20, 1927) is a former head coach and player of American football, Canadian football, and a former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Grant served as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings ...

, and they won the

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

. He returned to the United States and played for the Bears for two seasons in

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

and 1960.

References

External links

* * 1936 births 2006 deaths American football ends Chicago Bears players Houston Oilers players SMU Mustangs football players Sportspeople from the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex American Football League All-Star players People from Springtown, Texas Players of American football from Texas American Football League players {{tightend-1930s-stub

See also

References

External links