Dan Birdwell (October 14, 1940 – February 14, 1978) was an American college and professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

player. A

defensive lineman 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 ...

, he played collegiately for the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

and professionally 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 ...

of 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. ...

(AFL) from 1962 to 1969. He was the starting left defensive tackle with

Tom Keating (American football) Thomas Arthur Keating (September 2, 1942 – August 31, 2012) was an American football player who played at the defensive tackle position. He played college football for the University of Michigan from 1961 to 1963. He also played 12 seasons o ...

on the right side for the

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

AFL Champion Raiders with their 13-1 win–loss record and on the losing side in the second AFL-NFL World Championship game. In that season, the front four of Birdwell, Keating,

Ike Lassiter Isaac "Ike" Thomas Lassiter (November 15, 1940 – February 15, 2015) was an American college and Professional football (gridiron), professional football defensive lineman. He is an alumnus of St. Augustine's College (Raleigh), St. Augustine's Co ...

, and

Ben Davidson Benjamin Earl Davidson (June 14, 1940 – July 2, 2012) was an American football player, a defensive end best known for his play with the Oakland Raiders in the American Football League (AFL). Earlier in his career, he was with the Green Bay Pa ...

combined for impressive totals of 67 sacks and 666 yards lost. Birdwell is credited with the following quote regarding the necessary mindset to play professional football: "You have to play this game like somebody just hit your mother with a two by four." Birdwell died of a massive heart attack at age 37 on February 14, 1978.

References

1978 deaths Houston Cougars football players Oakland Raiders players American Football League All-Star players 1940 births American Football League players {{defensive-lineman-1940s-stub

See also

References