Bobby Walston

Last updated
Bobby Walston
Bobby Walston - 1952 Bowman Large.jpg
Walston on a 1952 Bowman football card
No. 83
Position: End
Kicker
Personal information
Born:(1928-10-17)October 17, 1928
Columbus, Ohio
Died:October 7, 1987(1987-10-07) (aged 58)
Elk Grove Village, Illinois
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
College: Georgia
NFL Draft: 1951  / Round: 14 / Pick: 166
Career history
As a player:
As a coach:
As an administrator:
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played:148
Field goals attempted:157
Field goals made:80
Receiving touchdowns:46
Receiving yards:5,363
Player stats at NFL.com  ·  PFR

Robert Harold Walston (October 17, 1928 – October 7, 1987) was an American football wide receiver and placekicker in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football at the University of Georgia and was drafted in the 14th round of the 1951 NFL Draft. From 1966 to 1967, he coached receivers and kickers for the Miami Dolphins.

Contents

Professional career

Walston doubled as receiver and kicker for the Eagles for 12 seasons. His best receiving season was in 1954, when he caught 41 passes for 750 yards, garnering 18.3 yards per reception, scoring five touchdowns. The next season, he would have only 581 yards on 31 receptions, but he scored 11 touchdowns as the Eagles once again went 7-4-1. He also scored 114 points during the season, the most in the NFL that season and most by an Eagle until 1984. His best kicking season was in 1957, when he made 75% of his field goals and was 1st in percentage in the league, with 9 of 12 field goals made. Despite this, his Eagles went 4-8. But three seasons later, they had made a resurgence in 1960, and Walston went 14 out of 20 in field goal kicking (70 percent) and was first in the league once again, with 39 out of 40 in extra points as the Eagles made their first playoff appearance since 1949. In his lone playoff appearance, he caught 3 passes for 38 yards while making a 17-yard field goal and two extra points as the Eagles won the 1960 NFL Championship Game, their first title since 1949. In his final season, the Eagles finished 3-10-1. He caught four touchdowns that season, his most since 1954, although his kicking game declined, as he had his second worst kicking percentage.

Walston scored 881 points in his career, and at the time of his retirement had scored more points in the NFL than anyone other than Lou Groza. He retained the Eagles franchise points record until it was broken by kicker David Akers in 2007. [1]

NFL career statistics

YearTeamGPField GoalsExtra PointsRec TDTotal Points
FGMFGAFG%LngXPMXPAXP%
1951 PHI 1261154.544283190.3894
1952 PHI 12112055.0353131100.0382
1953 PHI 1241330.827454893.8587
1954 PHI 1241040.020363992.311114
1955 PHI 122366.7256785.7330
1956 PHI 1261346.239171894.4353
1957 PHI 1291275.035202195.2153
1958 PHI 1261442.9363131100.0367
1959 PHI 12010.00333497.1351
1960 PHI 12142070.039394097.52105
1961 PHI 14142556.042434693.5097
1962 PHI 1441526.736363894.7448
Total1488015751.04436538495.146881

Coaching and administrative career

After working in the front office with the Eagles for a few years, he became the special teams coach of the Miami Dolphins for their inaugural 1966 season and the 1967 season. He also served as a personnel director for the Chicago Bears from 1968-1975, overseeing the drafting of college players along with scouting, and being an assistant to Bears president George Halas, Jr. He resigned on December 7, 1974, after Jim Finks became general manager. [2] He later served as a scout for the Edmonton Eskimos in the Canadian Football League, from 1978-1980 and scouted for the United States Football League from 1983-1985. Walston is one of only four players named to the National Football League 1950s All-Decade Team not yet inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Walston died just 10 days before his 59th birthday, on October 7, 1987 at Alexian Brothers Medical Center, Elk Grove Village. [3] Twenty-seven years after his death, he was named to the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame on September 22, 2019. [4]

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References

  1. ↑ Didinger, Ray (September 19, 2019). "Didinger: Bobby Walston gets his due". Philadelphia Eagles.
  2. ↑ Strauss, Michael (December 7, 1974). "People in Sports". The New York Times . Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Ex-bears Aide `Bobby` Walston, 58 - tribunedigital-chicagotribune". articles.chicagotribune.com. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02.
  4. ↑ "Bobby Walston to be inducted into Eagles Hall of Fame on Fantennial Weekend". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. August 8, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
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