Bobby Beathard obit

Super Bowl-Winning NFL Executive Bobby Beathard Dies at 86

 

He was not on the list.

Bobby Beathard, a long-time executive who was part of four Super Bowl victories, died Monday due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease, his son Casey told The Washington Post. He was 86 years old.

He served as a scout for the Kansas City Chiefs when they won the American Football League title and went on to make a Super Bowl appearance. But the four titles on football’s biggest stage came during Beathard’s time with the  Miami Dolphins in the 1970s as the director of player personnel and Washington during the ’80s as general manager. Beathard was the one who hired legendary coach Joe Gibbs in ’81 and drafted stars such as Darrell Green, Russ Grimm and Art Monk. During the ’90s, he left to be the general manager of the Chargers when they were based in San Diego.

Prominent draft picks for the Redskins under his tenure include Art Monk, Mark May, Russ Grimm, Dexter Manley, Charlie Brown, Darrell Green, Charles Mann, and Gary Clark. Beathard resigned prior to the 1989 NFL Draft, and spent the year as a studio analyst with NFL on NBC.

“Bobby was one of the best judges of football talent in NFL history. For most, that alone would be enough. For Bobby Beathard, it doesn’t nearly do the man justice,” Chargers owner Dean Spanos said in a statement. “Bobby was who we all aspire to be—a friendly, caring, giving, thoughtful human being who brought people from all walks of life together. He was the best GM in football; but he was also the guy sitting on his surfboard in the ocean that you caught waves with, jogged trails alongside and chatted up in the check-out line of the local market. He was the guy you felt like you’d known your entire life, even if it wasn’t but for five minutes at the gas station. He was just a regular guy who happened to be anything but.

“Bobby was, in fact, exceptional. He was one of a kind. And he will be incredibly missed. On behalf of my family and the Chargers organization, we want to extend our deepest condolences to his wife, Christine, and the entire Beathard family on the loss of one of the best to ever do it, be it football or life.”

Beathard retired from the sport in 2000 and was later inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in ’18 as a contributor.

Beathard was born in Zanesville, Ohio, before moving to El Segundo, California, at the age of four. He attended El Segundo High School but did not begin playing football until his sophomore year, as a tailback. In college, he accepted a scholarship to play football for LSU, but returned home after summer practices after feeling homesick. He then enrolled at El Camino Junior College for a year before enrolling at Cal Poly, where he played football as a back-up running back and later the starting quarterback and defensive back, leading Cal Poly to back-to-back 9–1 seasons. He went undrafted in 1959 and had pre-season stints with two professional teams, but was unable to find a spot, spending his early post-college years playing semi-pro football and working various non-football jobs.

Beathard served as a scout for the Atlanta Falcons from 1968 through 1971. He was named director of player personnel for the Miami Dolphins on February 22, 1972, succeeding Joe Thomas whose contract dispute with team owner Joe Robbie culminated with his resignation three days prior. From 1972-1973, the Dolphins would go 26-2, winning two Super Bowls in a row, including a perfect season in 1972.

Beathard resided with his wife Christine in Franklin, Tennessee. Beathard's younger brother, Pete Beathard, was a quarterback at USC, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Oilers. One of Beathard's sons, Casey Beathard, is a country music songwriter. His other son, Kurt Beathard, is a football coach, formerly the offensive coordinator for Illinois State. His grandson, Jeffery "Bobo" Beathard, played four years at Appalachian State University as a wide receiver; while other grandsons, C. J. Beathard and Tucker Beathard, is a quarterback and a singer-songwriter respectively. Another of Beathard's grandsons, Clayton Beathard, was fatally stabbed in a bar fight in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2019.

Beathard participated in the 1984 New York City Marathon. From 2005 to 2009, Beathard was a consecutive 5 time first place winner in the men's age 65 and over group at the World Bodysurfing Championships held annually in Oceanside, California. Beathard was inducted into the Cal Poly Mustangs Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988.