Sonny Utz

Last updated
Sonny Utz
No. 28
Position: Fullback
Personal information
Born:(1942-05-21)May 21, 1942
Annandale, Virginia, U.S.
Died:December 31, 1991(1991-12-31) (aged 49)
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:208 lb (94 kg)
Career information
High school: Annandale (VA)
College: Virginia Tech
NFL draft: 1965  / Round: 6 / Pick: 75
AFL draft: 1965  / Round: 13 / Pick: 100
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
  • All-SoCon (1964)
  • SoCon rushing leader, 1964; 3rd place, 1963 [1]
  • 2× SoCon scoring leader (1963, 1964) [1]

Silas Alexander "Sonny" Utz, III (May 21, 1942 - December 31, 1991) was an American football fullback in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the Winnipeg Blue bombers. He also was a member of the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Virginia Tech.

Contents

Early years

Utz attended Annandale High School, where he practiced football and baseball. He contributed to the school winning four consecutive county football championships. As a senior, he received All-Met and All Northern Region honors. [2]

College career

Utz accepted a football scholarship from Virginia Tech. He was referred to as "Mr. Inside" as a fullback in the Tech offense that featured star quarterback Bob Schweickert, who was called "Mr. Outside." [3] He also played as a linebacker.

1962 season

Utz was one of four backs who ran for over 250 yards for the Gobblers, racking up 261 yards on 66 carries. [4] He scored one touchdown for the 5-5 Techmen.

1963 season

Utz led the conference in scoring for the only Virginia Tech team to ever win the Southern Conference title. [1] He scored 10 touchdowns in 10 games for the Hokies who finished the year 8-2 and with a perfect 5-0 conference mark. [4] He also was second to Sweickert on the team in rushing with 567 yards. [4] That was good enough for third place in the Southern Conference. [1]

1964 season

In the 1964 season, Utz led the Southern in both rushing and scoring. [1] However, the Hokies lost to West Virginia to spoil their bid for back-to-back Southern Conference championships. Utz scored 10 times on the ground in 10 games for the second straight year, but also caught a pass for a touchdown to tally a total of 66 points. [1]

His accomplishments led to his induction into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1987.

Professional career

Utz was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the 6th round (75th overall) of the 1965 NFL Draft. [5] He also was selected by the New York Jets in the 13th round (100th overall) of the 1965 AFL Draft. [6] He opted to sign with the Cowboys, but missed all of training camp due to ankle injury he suffered in a motorcycle accident the previous spring. On August 24, 1966, he was waived to be placed on the injured reserve list. [7]

On April 11, 1967, he signed as a free agents with the Atlanta Falcons. [8] He was released on July 21. [9]

In August 1967, he was signed as a free agent by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League. [10] He registered 12 carries for 16 yards, 15 receptions for 145 yards and 12 kickoff returns for 272 yards. [11] He was released in October.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DeAngelo Hall</span> American football player (born 1983)

DeAngelo Eugene Hall is an American professional football coach and former player who was a defensive back for 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Virginia Tech Hokies and was selected by the Atlanta Falcons with the eighth overall pick in the 2004 NFL draft. Hall played half a season for the Oakland Raiders before being released and signed by the Washington Redskins in 2008, playing for them until retiring following the 2017 season. He was a cornerback for the majority of his career before playing at free safety during his last few seasons.

Walter Benton Garrison was an American professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football for the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carroll Dale</span> American football player (born 1938)

Carroll Wayne Dale is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was an All-American playing college football for the Virginia Tech Hokies before becoming a member of the Green Bay Packers teams that won three straight NFL championships, including the first two Super Bowls. He was originally from Wise, Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonny Randle</span> American football player (1936–2017)

Ulmo Shannon "Sonny" Randle Jr. was an American sportscaster and football player and coach. He played wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Cardinals/St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys. Randle played college football at the University of Virginia.

In each year of its ten-year existence (1960–1969), numerous sports-news services named their choice for the American Football League's best first-year player. UPI selected a rookie for each of the ten seasons, while the Associated Press did selections from 1961 to 1966, which ended up with the same selections that UPI made. In 1967, AP instead selected Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Years for the AFL, with the offensive choices matching the UPI selection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xavier Adibi</span> American football player and coach (born 1984)

Xavier Oyekola Adibi is an American football coach and former player. He is a defensive analyst at Virginia Tech, and was previously the defensive coordinator at Texas A&M University–Commerce. He played college football at Virginia Tech. He was selected by the Houston Texans in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL Draft and played professionally as a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) with the Texans (2008–2010), Minnesota Vikings (2011), Chicago Bears (2012), and Tennessee Titans (2012). He was inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1966 Green Bay Packers season</span> 48th NFL franchise season; first team to win Super Bowl

The 1966 Green Bay Packers season was their 48th season overall and their 46th in the National Football League (NFL). The defending NFL champions had a league-best regular season record of 12–2, led by eighth-year head coach Vince Lombardi and quarterback Bart Starr, in his eleventh NFL season.

Bryan Randall is an American former professional football quarterback. He was signed by the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football for the Virginia Tech Hokies. Randall was also a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Winnipeg Blue Bombers, as well as several indoor football teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyrod Taylor</span> American football player (born 1989)

Tyrod Diallo Taylor is an American football quarterback for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Virginia Tech, leading the Hokies to the 2009 Orange Bowl as a sophomore and 2011 Orange Bowl during his senior year. He was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL draft and served as the backup to starting quarterback Joe Flacco, including during the Ravens' Super Bowl XLVII victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Royal</span> American football player (born 1986)

William Edward Royal is an American former football wide receiver and return specialist. He was selected by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 2008 NFL draft. He played college football for the Virginia Tech Hokies and was elected to its sports hall of fame in 2018. Royal also played for the San Diego Chargers and Chicago Bears.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macho Harris</span> American football player (born 1986)

Victor "Macho" Harris, Jr. is a former football defensive back. He played college football at Virginia Tech and was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Harris was also a member of the Washington Redskins and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL and the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Williams (running back)</span> American football player (born 1990)

Ryan Gene Williams is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round of the 2011 NFL draft. He played college football for the Virginia Tech Hokies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhett Ellison</span> American football player (born 1988)

Rhett Marshall Ellison is a former American football tight end and fullback who played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at USC and was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He also played for the New York Giants for three seasons.

The 1963 VPI Gobblers football team represented the Virginia Polytechnic Institute in the 1963 NCAA University Division football season. It was the only Southern Conference football championship Tech won during its tenure in the leage, 1921-1965.

Sam Rogers is a former American football fullback and coach who is currently the head coach at Hanover High School. He played college football at Virginia Tech, and spent time on the rosters of the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills.

Robert Lynn Schweickert is a former American football quarterback. Schweickert led Virginia Tech's football team to its only Southern Conference championship in 1963, and was a first-team All-America for the Hokies in 1964.. He was two-time Southern Conference Media player of the year. He saw action in two seasons of professional football for the New York Jets of the American Football League (AFL).

Khalil Herbert is an American football running back for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Kansas before transferring to Virginia Tech in 2020. Herbert was drafted by the Bears in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

James "The Governor" Maxell Mitchell is an American football tight end for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Virginia Tech.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hendon Hooker</span> American football player (born 1998)

Alan Hendon Hooker is an American football quarterback for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Virginia Tech and Tennessee, where he was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Year in 2022. Hooker was drafted by the Lions in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Sonny Utz". Sports Reference College Football. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Star Atoms inducted into AHS Athletic Hall of Fame" . Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  3. ↑ Schlabach, Mark; Wood, Norm; Glier, Ray (2011). Always a Hokie: Players, coaches and fans share their passion for Virginia Tech football. Chicago: Triumph Books.
  4. 1 2 3 "1962 Virginia Tech Hokies Stats". Sports Reference College Football. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  5. ↑ "1965 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  6. ↑ "1965 AFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  7. ↑ "Cowboys Release Manatee's Pettee" . Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  8. ↑ "Atlanta". 12 April 1967. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  9. ↑ "Transactions". 22 July 1967. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  10. ↑ "Ball in the Air". 9 August 1967. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  11. ↑ "Sonny Utz - The Pro Football Archives". www.profootballarchives.com. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.