California Lutheran University is a private university in Thousand Oaks, California. It was founded in 1959 and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but is nonsectarian. It opened in 1960 as California Lutheran College and was California's first four-year liberal arts college and the first four-year private college in Ventura County. It changed its name to California Lutheran University on January 1, 1986.
Charles Philip Bednarik, nicknamed "Concrete Charlie", was an American football linebacker and center who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Penn Quakers, and was selected with the first overall pick of the 1949 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, where he played his entire 14-year NFL career from 1949 through 1962. Bednarik is ranked one of the hardest hitting tacklers in NFL history, and was one of the league's last two-way players, so he was also known as "60 Minute Man".
Robert Calvin Hubbard was an American professional football player and Major League Baseball (MLB) umpire. After playing college football at Centenary College and Geneva College, Hubbard played in the National Football League (NFL) between 1927 and 1936 for the New York Giants, Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Pirates, playing the bulk of his career with the Packers. Hubbard is credited as being one of the inventors of the football position of linebacker.
Rickey Anderson Jackson is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the New Orleans Saints (1981–1993) and the San Francisco 49ers (1994–1995). He led the team's Dome Patrol linebacker corps while playing with the Saints. In 1997, Jackson was inducted into the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame. Jackson won a Super Bowl ring with the 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX one year before retiring. On February 7, 2010, Jackson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Brad Alan Van Pelt was an American football linebacker who played for 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans, where he won the Maxwell Award in 1972. He was selected by the New York Giants, earning five Pro Bowl selections during his ten years with the team. He rounded out his career with the Los Angeles Raiders from 1984 to 1985 and the Cleveland Browns in 1986.
Harry Donald Carson is an American former professional football player who spent his entire career as a linebacker for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). Carson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
Richard Paul Anderson is an American former professional football player who was a safety for the Miami Dolphins of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons during the 1960s and 1970s. He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes and was recognized as a consensus All-American. He was selected in third round of the 1968 NFL/AFL draft, and he played for his entire professional career for the Dolphins.
Erich Theodore Barnes was an American professional football player who was a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers (1956–1958), where he was a two-way player. In the NFL, he was a six-time Pro Bowler and a four-time All-Pro selection, including first-team honors in 1961.
Sam Cvijanovich is a former linebacker in the Canadian Football League. Cvijanovich was a notable player for the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen during the 1971 NAIA Division II Football National Championship. He has been named “the hardest hitter I’ve ever coached” by head coach Bob Shoup. Nicknamed "Jawbone", Cvijanovich was six foot and 205 lbs. He was later named NAIA District III Player of the Year in both his junior and senior years at Cal Lutheran. He was later drafted to the Canadian Football League after his collegiate career and was selected as the CFL Rookie of the Year in 1974 as a middle linebacker with the Toronto Argonauts. He set a record for interceptions by a linebacker as a rookie and played three seasons for Toronto before being traded to Vancouver. He ended his 1977 season and retired due to foot injuries.
Lee Roy Caffey was an American professional football player who was an outside linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers. Caffey is one of the top 100 Green Bay Packers of All-Time (#57). Caffey and teammates, Ray Nitchke and Dave Robinson, were named one of the top 10 best linebacking trios in the history of the NFL by ESPN. He played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies and is one of Texas A&M’s top 10 best players in the NFL.
Michael William Horan is an American former professional football player who was a punter in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Long Beach State 49ers and was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the ninth round of the 1982 NFL draft.
The Dome Patrol was the linebacker corps of the National Football League's New Orleans Saints during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Under head coach Jim Mora, it formed the second level of defensive coordinator Steve Sidwell's 3–4 defense, considered to be among the most formidable 3–4 defenses in NFL history.
Joe Fishback is a former American football safety in the National Football League for the Atlanta Falcons, New York Jets, and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Carson-Newman University.
The Crunch Bunch were the group of New York Giants football team's defensive linebackers in 1981, 1982 and 1983, one of the NFL's best group of linebackers. They worked together as a unit and were known for their punishing, powerful, bone-jarring tackles and quarterback sacks. The individuals included:
The Big Blue Wrecking Crew was the defense for the New York Giants during the 1980s that won two Super Bowl championships and three NFC East titles, the first in Super Bowl XXI in 1986 and the other in Super Bowl XXV in 1990. A 3-4 defense, it was among the greatest NFL defenses of all time, and featured Lawrence Taylor as its star, considered by many to be the greatest defensive player in NFL history.
The 1971 NAIA Division II football season was the 16th season of college football sponsored by the NAIA and the second season of play of the NAIA's lower division for football. The season was played from August to November 1971 and culminated in the 1971 NAIA Division II Football National Championship, played on December 11, 1971 in Thousand Oaks, California, on the campus of California Lutheran University.
Robert F. Shoup is a retired American football coach and former player. He was the head coach at California Lutheran University from 1962 to 1989, compiling a career coaching record of 185–87–6. Shoup led Cal Lutheran to the NAIA Division II Football Championship in 1971. 186 of his players would later become coaches. He also helped to bring the Dallas Cowboys NFL team to the university. He was able to spend time around the team's players and coaches, including Tom Landry, and was able to pick up techniques for his team. Landry and Shoup also put together two major events each summer: a coaching clinic that drew as many as 500 people and a charity function known as the Christian Businessmen's Club Day. He was also the head coach for the college's golf program for ten years, 1976-1986.
The Cal Lutheran Kingsmen and Regals are the athletic teams that represent California Lutheran University, located in Thousand Oaks, California, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) since the 1991–92 academic year. The Kingsmen and Regals previously competed in the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) 1986–87 to 1988–89; and as an NAIA Independent from 1989–90 to 1990–91.
Charles Shawn McShane is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Seattle Seahawks. He played college football at California Lutheran College.
Greg Osbourne is an American actor and golfer who currently serves as the Director of Golf at Cal State Bakersfield. He was the head coach for the golf program at Glendale Community College from 2008-2013. Osbourne is a PGA Pro, a member of the Professional Golfers Association, and also the head pro at Chevy Chase Country Club. He is the head pro at De Bell Golf Club in Burbank. He was the president of United States Golf Corporation in 1992-95 and the president of Wisdom Golf Inc. from 1995-97. He is an actor recurring in the role as Greg on the NBC series Las Vegas.
