Pat Dunsmore

Last updated

Pat Dunsmore
No. 88
Position: Tight end
Personal information
Born: (1959-10-02) October 2, 1959 (age 64)
Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:237 lb (108 kg)
Career information
High school:Ankeny (IA)
College: Drake
NFL draft: 1983  / Round: 4 / Pick: 107
Career history
Career NFL statistics
Receptions:17
Receiving yards:208
Receiving TDs:1
Playoff receptions:2
Playoff yards:22
Playoff TDs:1
Player stats at PFR

Patrick Neil "Pat" Dunsmore (born October 2, 1959) is a former professional American football player who played tight end for three seasons for the Chicago Bears. He is a graduate of Ankeny High School in Ankeny, Iowa and Drake University. He switched sports (to football) as a senior in high school and switched positions (to tight end) as a senior in college. He played for Drake during a historically successful era for the school. As a professional, he is best remembered as the recipient of a Walter Payton playoff touchdown and a victim of a pileup in a bench clearing brawl. He is the father of Drake Dunsmore.

Contents

Early life

At Ankeny, he competed in basketball until his senior year, when he became a football player and earned a football scholarship. [1] At Drake, he was a highly regarded tight end, after converting from wide receiver as a senior, who slipped to the 106th pick in the 1983 NFL Draft after suffering a knee injury while skiing in early 1983. [2] On September 13, 1980, he had 142 yards and six receptions for two touchdowns against Ball State. [3] Dunsmore, was part of a historic era for Drake Bulldogs football including the nearly undefeated 1981 Drake Bulldogs football team. The team's 7–0 start was the school's first in 37 years, which caused Sports Illustrated to do a feature on the team. [4] Then, he was part of the Bears 1983 Draft class with Jimbo Covert, Willie Gault, Mike Richardson, Dave Duerson, Tom Thayer, Richard Dent and Mark Bortz. [1]

Professional career

He played all 16 games for the 1983 Bears, making 8 receptions for 102 yards. [5] He was placed on injured reserve on August 30, 1984, and taken off of injured reserve on September 29, 1984. [6] [7] He then played in 11 regular season games for the 1984 Bears, totaling 9 receptions for 106 yards and a touchdown. [5] He caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Walter Payton in the 1984–85 NFL playoffs on December 30 against the Washington Redskins, but was on injured reserve during the 1985 Bears Super Bowl XX season. [8] [1] The 23–19 victory at RFK Stadium was the team's first playoff victory since 1963. The play occurred two minutes before the half when Payton took a pitch from Steve Fuller and threw the pass, giving the Bears a 10–3 halftime lead. [9]

Dunsmore was able to play with the 1986 Bears in the preseason. [10] In a late preseason game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Dunsmore came to the aid of teammate Keith Van Horne during a bench-clearing brawl. [11] Dunsmore and Van Horne were pinned against the wall behind the Cardinals bench. [12] Dunsmore was trampled, kicked and punched by Charlie Baker, Ottis Anderson and Earnest Gray on national television. [13] Dunsmore was among the last four players cut when the team cut to the 45-man roster limit a little over a week later. [14] The following week, when fines were announced by the NFL, Otis Wilson expressed his disbelief ". . . Dunsmore got fined? He almost got killed." [15]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Hayes, Neil (February 8, 2007). "Like father, like son: Ex-Bear's son gives Wildcats strong options at tight end". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on June 11, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2012. Pat Dunsmore spent three seasons with the Bears. The backup tight end caught a touchdown pass from Walter Payton during the landmark playoff upset of the Washington Redskins in 1984, then spent the 1985 Super Bowl season on injured reserve...Pat was a high school basketball player who didn't play football until his senior year and still earned a scholarship to Drake. A fourth-round selection, Dunsmore was part of the Bears' famous 1983 draft class that included Jimbo Covert, Willie Gault, Mike Richardson, Dave Duerson, Tom Thayer, Richard Dent and Mark Bortz.
  2. ↑ Markus, Robert (August 14, 1983). "2 rookies impress the Bears". Chicago Tribune . p. B6.
  3. ↑ "Other 32 -- No Title" . Los Angeles Times . September 14, 1980. p. C10. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
  4. ↑ Weiskopf, Herm (November 2, 1981). "The Week". Sports Illustrated . Retrieved April 29, 2012.
  5. 1 2 "Pat Dunsmore". NFL.com . Retrieved April 30, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Transactions". The New York Times . August 30, 1984. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Transactions". The New York Times . September 29, 1984. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Bears Trounce Patriots, 46-10, in Super Bowl". Los Angeles Times. January 27, 1986. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  9. ↑ Ruane, John (January 2, 1987). "Bears ride 2-game streak over Skins". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on September 21, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
  10. ↑ Hewitt, Brian (August 10, 1986). "Tomczak-led Bears shine // 3 touchdown passes help bury Steelers". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2012. ...last night's 33-13 victory over the Steelers...Reserve tight end Pat Dunsmore added three receptions for 47 yards.
  11. ↑ Pompei, Dan (August 24, 1986). "Ditka down on Fridge's uplifting sack". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2012. 'I grabbed one guy and the next thing I know there were nothing but white jerseys around me,' Dunsmore said. 'I was just trying to stay alive. They were punching and kicking my head and my crotch.' Dunsmore wasn't hurt, although he was 'a little dizzy.'
  12. ↑ Lamb, Kevin (August 24, 1986). "Cardinals pin 1st loss on Bears". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2012. It started when Cardinal linebacker Niko Noga knocked wide receiver Keith Ortego down while he was blocking. Cornerback Lionel Washington 'jumped on top of me...'While an official restrained Washington, tackle Keith Van Horne ran past and belted him...Van Horne suddenly found himself under a pile of Cardinal players who rolled him to the padded wall behind the St. Louis bench...Tight end Pat Dunsmore also was caught in the scuffle...he was pummeled against the wall like a hockey player. Dunsmore fell to the ground, where St. Louis linebacker Charlie Baker kicked him.
  13. ↑ Lamb, Kevin (August 25, 1986). "A sideline mugging at Soldier Field". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2012. Dunsmore, a Bears tight end, got trampled in a stampede of Cardinals...Dunsmore just happened to be in the way. But as long as Dunsmore was on the ground and defenseless, Cardinals Charlie Baker, Ottis Anderson and Earnest Gray amused themselves by kicking and punching him in the helmet and less-protected areas. On national television, it looked like a scene from a prison movie where the warden's stoolie is perforated with blunt objects and left for dead, a blot on the floor.
  14. ↑ Hewitt, Brian (September 2, 1986). "Bears give up, drop Williams". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2012. There were no major surprises among the four other players waived yesterday as the Bears trimmed their roster to the regular-season limit of 45. [In addition to David Williams] Others cut were fourth-year reserve defensive end Tyrone Keys, third-year backup center Tom Andrews, third-year reserve tight end Pat Dunsmore and rookie defensive back Maurice Douglass.
  15. ↑ Hewitt, Brian (September 11, 1986). "Bears see fine line in fights vs. Cards". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2012.

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