Ricky Churchman

Last updated
Ricky Churchman
No. 33
Position: Defensive back
Personal information
Born: (1958-03-14) March 14, 1958 (age 66)
Pearland, Texas, U.S.
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school: Pearland
College: Texas
NFL draft: 1980  / Round: 4 / Pick: 84
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Player stats at PFR

Richard Cecil Churchman (born March 14, 1958) is a former American football defensive back who played two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL) where he earned a Super Bowl ring. He played college football at the University of Texas at Austin and attended Pearland High School in Pearland, Texas. [1]

Contents

College career

Churchman played for the Texas Longhorns from 1976-1979, the last three as a starter, playing on a team that was ranked #1 for most of the season and which came one-win away from winning the National Championship in 1977. In that season, the Longhorns suffered numerous injuries at quarterback, and when their only healthy QB had to come out for a single play to change his torn uniform, Churchman was sent in for one play to hand the ball off to Johnny "Lam" Jones. Jones ran the ball 70 yards for a touchdown. [2]

The next season, the team finished #9 after winning the Sun Bowl and the season after that was #12 after losing the Sun Bowl. in 1979 he made the All-Southwest conference team. In 1992, he was named to the Austin American-Statesman Longhorns' All-Centennial Team. [3]

Pro career

Churchman was drafted by the 49ers in the fourth round of the 1980 NFL Draft. During the third pre-season game he suffered a knee injury that would later end his career. [4] He was a rookie starter in his first season, when the 49ers defense featured four rookie starters and in a game against the Patriots, he caught two interceptions as the 49ers recorded a club-record six interceptions in a game. [5] He finished the season on the injured reserve list with a pair of injuries to the thigh and shoulder. In the offseason he had the first of 3 knee surgeries. [4]

In 1981, he started the season still recovering from his knee injury, but saw playing time early in the season. In October he underwent another knee surgery and spent the rest of the season on the injured reserve. The San Francisco 49ers won Super Bowl XVI and he earned a ring, but he did not play in that game or any of the playoff games. He had a third knee surgery in early 1982. At the start of the 1982 season, he was cut by the 49ers. [6]

Later life

Churchman returned to Texas, earning a Business degree and then went to work for Lockheed where he was a business manager for the company's Tomahawk Cruise Missile Project. [4] Later he moved to Richland, WA, where he worked as the controller and director of finance and accounting for Lockheed's Mission Support Alliance that provided services to cleanup contractors. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Simms</span> American football player and coach (born 1980)

Christopher David Simms is an American sports analyst and former football player. He was a quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third round of the 2003 NFL draft after playing college football for the Texas Longhorns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonard Davis (American football)</span> American football player (born 1978)

Leonard Barnett Davis is an American former professional football guard for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was a consensus All-American playing college football for the Texas Longhorns, where he was also a two-time Outland Trophy finalist and a Lombardi Trophy semifinalist. Davis was selected by the Arizona Cardinals with the second overall pick in the 2001 NFL draft. He played for the Cardinals, the Dallas Cowboys - where he was a three-time Pro-Bowler and a second team All-Pro - and the San Francisco 49ers, with whom he went to Super Bowl XLVII. He also spent part of a season with the Detroit Lions, but never took the field for them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Huff</span> American football player (born 1983)

Michael Wayne Huff II is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Texas and then played 8 years in the NFL, primarily with the Oakland Raiders, who had drafted him with the seventh overall pick in the 2006 NFL draft. At Texas, he won a National Championship and was recognized as a unanimous All-American and the top college defensive back. In the NFL, he was 2nd Team All Pro in 2010. In his last NFL season, he played briefly for both the Baltimore Ravens and the Denver Broncos. As a Bronco, he was part of the team that suffered a loss at Super Bowl XLVIII, despite not playing in it. After retiring as a player, he returned to Texas as a coach.

Kenneth Wayne Sims is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons during the 1980s. He played college football at Texas, where he was a two-time consensus All-American. Sims was the first overall pick in the 1982 NFL draft, and played professionally for the New England Patriots including the season they went to Super Bowl XX.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colt McCoy</span> American football player (born 1986)

Daniel "Colt" McCoy is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He played college football for the Texas Longhorns, winning several awards and honors as a senior in 2009 and ranking second all-time in games won by an FBS quarterback. McCoy was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft and has also been a member of the San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins, New York Giants, and Arizona Cardinals, primarily being used as a backup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarell Brown</span> American football player (born 1985)

Tarell Lameek Brown is a former American football cornerback. He was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football for the University of Texas.

Alan D. Lowry is a former National Football League (NFL) and college football coach, best known as the architect of the Music City Miracle. He coached for several teams over more than 25 years, winning one Super Bowl and going to another. Prior to coaching he played football at the University of Texas, where he won a national championship and three conference championships, was named to the All-Conference team twice at two different positions and was named the 1973 Cotton Bowl Offensive MVP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 Texas Longhorns football team</span> American college football season

The 2007 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Mack Brown. The Longhorns played their home games in Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium (DKR).

Terry Wayne Tausch was an American professional football player who played guard in the National Football League (NFL) for 8 seasons where he played on the San Francisco 49ers when they won Super Bowl XXIV. He played most of his career with the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at The University of Texas where he was a two-time All-American, a consensus All-American and played for the national championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garrett Gilbert</span> American football player (born 1991)

Garrett Antone Gilbert is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He previously played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. The son of former NFL quarterback Gale Gilbert, he played college football at the University of Texas at Austin and SMU.

Robert Brewer is a former American football player. He played quarterback for the University of Texas Longhorns during the 1981 and 1982 season. He is the last walk-on quarterback to start for Texas and the last to start in the Cotton Bowl. His most memorable moment was the late touchdown he scored against Alabama to guide Texas to a 1982 Cotton Bowl Classic win. He is also the younger member of the only father-son combination to start at quarterback for Texas. Both father and son led Longhorn teams to victory over Bear Bryant coached teams.

Richard Edward McIvor is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the St. Louis Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Longhorns Longhorns. After his football career, he was the sheriff of Jeff Davis County, Texas.

Bret Alan Stafford is a former American football player. He started as quarterback for the Texas Longhorns for almost 2½ seasons, 1985-87 during which time he established 14 UT records, among them most passing yards in a season (2,233) in 1986, and most passing yards over a career (4,735). However, most of his records have since been surpassed by Peter Gardere, James Brown, Major Applewhite, and Vince Young.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Hoyer</span> American football player (born 1985)

Axel Edward Brian Hoyer is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans. Since joining the NFL in 2009 as an undrafted free agent, he has started for eight different teams, the second-most in league history behind only Ryan Fitzpatrick. Hoyer's longest stint has been with the New England Patriots for eight non-consecutive seasons, primarily as a backup, and he was a member of the team that won Super Bowl LIII. His most successful season was with the Houston Texans in 2015 when he helped lead them to a division title.

Edward Eugene Williams is an American former professional football player who played seven seasons as a linebacker for the New England Patriots in the National Football League, including Super Bowl XX. Prior to that, he played college football as a defensive end for the Texas Longhorns.

Randy McEachern is a former American football player. He started as quarterback for the Texas Longhorns. He started the 1977 season as the 4th string quarterback on an unranked team and finished as the starter of the #1 team in the country, playing for the national championship.

Ted Louis Constanzo is an American former football player who started as quarterback and later at punter for the Texas Longhorns in the late 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nate Sudfeld</span> American football player (born 1993)

Nathan Michael Sudfeld is an American football quarterback for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Indiana and was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the sixth round in the 2016 NFL Draft. Sudfeld also spent four seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles as a backup quarterback, seeing occasional playing time and was a part of their Super Bowl LII-winning team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Ehlinger</span> American football player (born 1998)

Samuel George Ehlinger is an American football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played high school football at Westlake in Austin, Texas, where he broke various school records held by Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Drew Brees and Nick Foles, before committing to play college football at Texas. As a freshman there, Ehlinger split playing time with quarterback Shane Buechele before taking over as the starter in 2018, where he led the team to the 2018 Big 12 Championship Game and two bowl games. He was selected by the Colts in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

Joseph Ossai is a Nigerian professional American football defensive end for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Texas where he was a consensus All-American and a finalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy. He was drafted by the Bengals in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

References

  1. "RICKY CHURCHMAN". profootballarchives.com. Archived from the original on March 18, 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  2. "LETTERS TO THE SPORTS EDITOR". Austin American-Statesman. 5 December 1993.
  3. "A thundering herd all by himself". Austin American-Statesman. 22 November 1992.
  4. 1 2 3 "Churchman limps after his painful, successful career". Austin American-Statesman. 22 November 1993.
  5. "6 interceptions tie 49er club record in 21-17 upset of Patriots". The Baltimore Sun. 1 December 1980.
  6. [The Baltimore Sun "Transactions"]. 1 September 1982.{{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)
  7. Bohls, Kirk (29 November 2017). "There are better ways to fire coach, serve players". Austin American-Statesman.