Dave Osborn
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Dave Osborn (born March 18, 1943 in
Everett, Washington Everett is the county seat and largest city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett is the seventh-largest city in the ...
) is a former professional
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 ...
player who played
running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...
for 12 seasons for the
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...
and the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
.


Career

Osborn was drafted by the Vikings in the 13th round of the
1965 NFL Draft The 1965 National Football League draft was held at the Summit Hotel in New York City on Saturday, November 28, 1964. The first player selected was Tucker Frederickson, back from Auburn, by the New York Giants. The draft was marked by the failur ...
with the 176th overall pick. His first contract was worth $9,000. In his rookie year of 1965, Osborn had 20 carries for 106 yards for two touchdowns, while also having one reception for four yards. He returned 18 kickoff returns for 422 yards. The next year, Osborn's carries increased significantly as he carried the ball 87 times for 344 yards and one touchdown, while having 15 receptions for 141 yards and two touchdowns. He also returned one kickoff return for 19 yards. Osborn's third year, in 1967, saw career highs in carries, receptions and rushing and receiving yardage, as he carried the ball 215 times for 972 yards while scoring two touchdowns and recorded 34 receptions for 272 yards. He played just four games in the 1968 season, while having 42 carries for 140 yards. The Vikings qualified for the
playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
that season; in the Western Conference Championship, Osborn had five carries for four yards while having one catch for -2 yards, as his team lost 24–14 to the
Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...
. He returned to play in each game of the 1969 season, while having 186 carries for 643 yards and seven touchdowns (a career-high). Osborn had 22 receptions for 236 yards and one touchdown. That year, his team went on a playoff run, and he played in each of the three games that postseason. In the Divisional Round game versus the
Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...
, he had two touchdowns, one being in the first quarter that evened the score and the other in the third quarter that narrowed the deficit to 17–14. He finished with 13 carries for 30 yards in the 23–20 Viking win. In the
1969 NFL Championship Game The 1969 NFL Championship Game was the 37th and final championship game prior to the AFL–NFL merger, played January 4, 1970, at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota, a suburb south of Minneapolis. The winner of the game earned a ...
, Osborn had a 20-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that made it 24–0, with the final score being 27–7 over the
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 ( ...
. He finished with 18 carries for 108 yards. In
Super Bowl IV Super Bowl IV was an American football game played on January 11, 1970 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the fourth and final AFL–NFL World Championship Game in professional football prior to the AFL–NFL merger taking eff ...
, Osborn was the starting halfback in the game versus the
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...
. In the third quarter, he scored a touchdown from four yards out to narrow the deficit to 16–7, with the final score being a 23–7 loss. Osborn had seven carries for 15 yards while having two receptions for 11 yards. The following year, he played in all 14 games while starting in 10 of them while having 207 carries for 681 yards and five touchdowns. He also had 23 catches for 202 yards and one touchdown. He was named to the
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 ...
that year, the lone selection of his career. In his team's playoff appearance that year, he had 12 carries for 41 yards in the team's 17–14 loss to the
San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
. In 1971, he played in 11 games (while starting 9), carrying the ball 123 times for 349 yards and five touchdowns along with 25 receptions for 195 yards and one touchdown. In his team's playoff appearance that year, he had six carries of 13 yards in the 20–12 loss to 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 divisi ...
. He played in every game of the 1972 season (while starting five of them), carrying the ball 82 times for 261 yards for two touchdowns and having 20 receptions for 166 yards. In the following year, he played in 11 games (while starting one), carrying the ball 48 times for 216 yards while having three catches for four yards. It was his first season with no touchdowns since 1968. In the team's playoff run that year, he played minimally, having 4 carries for 27 yards. The 1974 season (his tenth season), he played in 13 games (while starting in 10 of them), rushing 131 times for 514 yards and four touchdowns while catching the ball 29 times for 196 yards and having 1 kick return for 14 yards. In his team's playoff run that year, he played in each game as his team advanced to the Super Bowl once again. In the Division Round vs the St. Louis Cardinals, he had 16 carries for 67 yards while having 4 receptions for 36 yards as his team won 30–14. In the NFC Championship vs the Los Angeles Rams, he scored on a one-yard touchdown run to make the score 14–3 as his team held on to win 14–10. He had 20 carries for 76 yards while having a reception for one yard. In Super Bowl IX versus the
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
, he had 8 carries for −1 yards while having 2 catches for 7 yards in a 16–6 loss. The 1975 season was his last with the Vikings; he carried the ball 32 times for 94 yards and one touchdown while having one reception for −4 yards along with 1 kick return for 38 yards. He did not have any carries in the Vikings' playoff run that year, but he had one kick return for no yards as his team lost 17–14 to the Cowboys. In 1976, he joined the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
. He played in six games while having six carries for 16 yards while having three kick returns for 19 yards. Osborn finished in the top 10 in rushing attempts in the league three times, doing so in 1967 (3rd with 215), 1969 (6th with 186), and 1970 (6th with 207).


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osborn, Dave 1943 births Living people Sportspeople from Everett, Washington American football running backs Minnesota Vikings players Green Bay Packers players National Conference Pro Bowl players North Dakota Fighting Hawks football players Players of American football from North Dakota