Colonel William A. Phillips

Robert Dean Clatterbuck (July 3, 1932 – November 7, 2004) was a National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) quarterback. He played for the New York Giants and the Los Angeles Chargers.

Amateur career

Clatterbuck attended San Angelo High School. He went on to play for the local San Angelo College. In 1950, his one year there, Clatterbuck led the Rams to a conference championship[2] and a victory in the Oleander Bowl.[3] Afterwards, he played college football for Houston[4] for 3 years. He held most of the passing records when he left.[2] He was a member of the school's first bowl appearance, winning the 1952 Salad Bowl. While at Houston, Clatterbuck also played baseball as a pitcher, and participated in the 1953 College World Series for the Cougars.[5] In 2014, he was posthumously inducted into his high school athletic hall of fame.[2]

Professional career

After college, Clatterbuck was drafted into the NFL by the New York Giants. He beat out two All-Americans for the job to back up All-Pro quarterback Charlie Conerly. He rarely saw playing time, starting just 2 games in 4 seasons with the team. He was a member of the 1956 championship team. In 1960, Clatterbuck joined the AFL, playing for the Chargers in their inaugural season. He started two games in relief of starter Jack Kemp.

Clatterbuck wore contact lenses while he played. During a game early in his career, the backup was required to enter game, where he realized he had forgotten his contacts and played out the half "throwing blind".

References

  1. ^ Conerly, Frank (2003). Backseat Quarterback (illustrated, reprint ed.). University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781604735901.
  2. ^ a b c Martinez, Quinton (2014-05-12). "BOBCAT HALL OF FAME: QB was record setter". Standard-Times. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
  3. ^ "Shrimp Bowl". www.luckyshow.org. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
  4. ^ "The Milwaukee Sentinel - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-09.
  5. ^ "Houston Cougars baseball Media Guide" (PDF). Houston Cougars baseball. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 28, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2014.