Edward Robert Zeman (February 22, 1937 – May 3, 2019) 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 ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

who played six seasons in 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. ...

from

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 ...

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 ...

Playing career

Early years

Zeman attended

Wheaton Warrenville South High School Wheaton Warrenville South High School (WWSHS), locally referred to as "South", is a public four-year high school in Wheaton, Illinois. It is one of two high schools that are part of Community Unit School District 200, the other being Wheaton Nor ...

Wheaton, Illinois Wheaton is a suburban city in Milton and Winfield Townships and is the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois. It is located approximately west of Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 52,894, which was estimated ...

, the home town as legendary collegiate and professional running back

Red Grange Harold Edward "Red" Grange (June 13, 1903 – January 28, 1991), nicknamed "the Galloping Ghost" and "the Wheaton Iceman", was an American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and the short-lived New York Yankees ...

."AFL All Stars," ''Sports All Stars 1963 Pro Football.'' New York: Maco Publishing, 1963; pg. 68. Also himself originally a running back, Zeman managed to break several of the "Galloping Ghost's" high school records. He was later inducted into its Hall of Fame.

Wisconsin Badgers

Zeman played on both sides of the ball at

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. However, he never eclipsed 600 yards of rushing, playing mostly defense. After playing in the Rose Bowl his senior year, Zeman met with executives in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers

Zeman was drafted by the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

in the

1960 AFL draft The 1960 American Football League draft was held on November 23–24, 1959, in Minneapolis, shortly after the organization of the league, and lasted 33 rounds. An additional draft of 20 rounds was held by the AFL on December 2. Teams were req ...

. Zeman was part of a stellar defense nicknamed the "Seven Pirates" — a squad which intercepted an AFL record 49 passes during the 1961 season.

Denver Broncos

In his first season 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 ...

, Zeman garnered a

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 ...

selection on the strength of six interceptions; one was returned for a touchdown.

Second stint with San Diego

Zeman injured his knee at the end of the 1966 season tackling Mike Garrett. He never returned to professional football.

Coaching history

College coaching

A couple years after retiring as a player, Zeman started to coach at the college level. His first stop was Northwestern, where he coached defensive backs in 1968 and 1969. He then went and coached at his alma mater

in 1970.

Professional coaching

He then coached for the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Ra ...

between 1971 and 1977, and won

Super Bowl XI Super Bowl XI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Minnesota Vikings to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for i ...

with the team. Zeman then coached with a team he had played for, the

, between 1978 and 1982. He spent the following year as the defensive coordinator of the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

. His later stops included the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...

, scouting for some teams, and stints with

Mike Holmgren Michael George Holmgren (born June 15, 1948) is a former American football coach and executive. He began his NFL career as a quarterbacks' coach and later as an offensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers, where they won Super Bowls XXI ...

in both San Francisco and Seattle.

Legacy

In 2017 Zeman, along with other players from the inaugural year, presented the Chargers organization with a signed ball for its move back to the city of Los Angeles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeman, Bob Buffalo Bills coaches 1937 births 2019 deaths American football safeties Los Angeles Chargers players San Diego Chargers players Denver Broncos (AFL) players American Football League All-Star players Wisconsin Badgers football players Seattle Seahawks coaches Sportspeople from Kane County, Illinois People from Geneva, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois American Football League players Sportspeople from Wheaton, Illinois