Tim Beamer

Last updated

Tim Beamer
No. 46
Position: Defensive back
Personal information
Born: (1948-04-06) April 6, 1948 (age 76)
Galax, Virginia, U.S.
Height:5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school: Galax (VA)
College: Illinois
Johnson C. Smith
NFL draft: 1971  / Round: 5 / Pick: 113
Career history
Player stats at PFR
Tim Beamer (right) with two teammates from the 1969 CIAA national championship team, kicker Bernard Parker (left) and quarterback Elroy Duncan (center). Three Golden Bulls.jpg
Tim Beamer (right) with two teammates from the 1969 CIAA national championship team, kicker Bernard Parker (left) and quarterback Elroy Duncan (center).

Timothy Carl Beamer (born April 6, 1948) is an American former football defensive back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Buffalo Bills for 12 games in 1971. [1] In 1973, he played in Canada for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. In 1974, he played for the Memphis Southmen in the World Football League, returning twenty kicks for a total of five hundred and seventy-three yards, averaging 28.7 yards a return, leading the league. [2] Following the collapse of the World Football League, Beamer earned a tryout with the New York Giants of the National Football League. In New York, coaches tried Beamer at several positions, including running back. According to the New York Daily News:

Contents

"The most talked-about former WFLer in the Giants’ training camp these days is not necessarily Larry Csonka or any of the offensive linemen who came here with him. The Wiffle-man who has been getting the most frequent mention from coach Bill Arnsparger is Tim Beamer, a man without a position." [3]

During a preseason game that year, Beamer suffered a shoulder injury that ended his professional career.

Collegiate football career

In 1966, Tim Beamer accepted a football scholarship from the University of Illinois and played on the freshman team as a running back. The next spring, a sports reporter who sized up the varsity’s prospects speculated that Tim Beamer, “a ‘sleeper’ from Galax, Va.,” had a shot at the job of starting halfback. The reporter had failed to notice that Beamer had been dismissed from school, along with more than a dozen other athletes, in the 1966-1967 "Slush Fund Scandal." The Big Ten Conference found that the athletes, most of them Black, accepted spending money from an off-the-books account managed by the university's athletic department. Beamer has stated that he and his teammates took small amounts of money because personnel in the athletic department assured them that this was proper. [4] Murry Nelson, a sports historian, has concluded that 14 athletes were "collateral damage" who got "short shrift" in the scandal. [5]

After leaving Illinois, Beamer enrolled at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N. C. He was not eligible to play football until his junior year, but he excelled on the track team and set a CIAA record with a time of 9.3 seconds in the 100-yard dash. [6] Beamer played defensive back for the Golden Bulls' CIAA national championship team in 1969 and earned CIAA All American honors as a running back in 1970. [7]

High school career

Tim Beamer was the first Black athlete to play any sport at Galax High School in Galax, Va. He had never played organized football until his junior year, 1964, but he learned the game from Coach Joe Lindsey, led the New River District in scoring in both 1964 and 1965, and helped turn a previously winless football team into a contender. He also tied a state record the 100-yard dash (9.9 seconds) and set a new record for the 220-yard dash (21.9 seconds) at the Virginia state track meet in 1966. With his brothers, Tim and Joe, and his cousin, Richard Tyree, Tim set a state record in the 880-yard relay (1:32). [8] At a track meet during his senior year, Tim Beamer set a district record of 9.7 seconds in the 100-yard dash, a record that stood for more than 20 years. [9]

Post-football career and personal life

With his older brother, Doug, Tim Beamer operated a pest-control business in Charlotte, N. C. for 30 years. With a former teammate at J. C. Smith, Bernard Parker, Beamer coached youth-league football in Charlotte for 17 years. In Charlotte, he and his brothers, Joe and Donald, have competed in golf tournaments. [10]

Honors

. Tim Beamer has been inducted into the Twin Counties Hall of Fame (Galax Gazette, Grayson and Carroll counties, Virginia) and the Johnson C. Smith University Hall of Fame. He was named to the New River District's all-district football team in both 1965 and 1966. He was a member of the Johnson C. Smith CIAA national championship team in 1969 and was named to the CIAA All American team as a running back in 1970.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Hayes</span> American football player and sprinter (1942–2002)

Robert Lee Hayes, nicknamed "Bullet Bob", was an American sprinter and professional football player. After winning gold medals at the 1964 Summer Olympics, he played as a split end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. Hayes is the only athlete to win both an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl ring. He was a two-sport standout in college in both track and field and football at Florida A&M University. Hayes was enshrined in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor in 2001 and was selected for induction in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in January 2009. Hayes is the second Olympic gold medalist to be inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, after Jim Thorpe. He once held the world record for the 70-yard dash. He also is tied for the world's second-fastest time in the 60-yard dash. He was once considered the "world's fastest human" by virtue of his multiple world records in the 60-yard, 100-yard, 220-yard, and Olympic 100-meter dashes. He was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mel Renfro</span> American football player (born 1941)

Melvin Lacy Renfro is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 14-year career as a cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The 1967 NFL Championship Game was the 35th NFL championship, played on December 31 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Gerald Howard "Gerry" Ashworth was an American former track athlete and a gold medalist in the 4 x 100 meter relay in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He won two gold medals sprinting in the 1964 Maccabiah Games in Tel Aviv, Israel. Recognized internationally, in 1963 Ashworth was rated seventh in the World in indoor competition and in 1964 had an eighth world rating in the outdoor 100 Yards and 100 Meters distances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Carlos</span> American track and field athlete

John Wesley Carlos is an American former track and field athlete and professional American football player. He was the bronze-medal winner in the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics, where he displayed the Black Power salute on the podium with Tommie Smith. He went on to tie the world record in the 100-yard dash and beat the 200 meters world record. After his track career, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Canadian Football League but retired due to injury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lam Jones</span> American football player and sprinter (1958–2019)

John Wesley "Lam" Jones was an American athlete who won a gold medal in the 4×100 meter relay at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and played professional football in the National Football League (NFL) as a wide receiver for the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys. Prior to that, he played college football and ran track at the University of Texas.

Todd Jeffery Duckett is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans. Duckett was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the first round of the 2002 NFL draft with the 18th overall pick. He also played in the NFL for the Washington Redskins, Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ollie Matson</span> American football player and sprinter (1930–2011)

Ollie Genoa Matson II was an American Olympic medal winning sprinter and professional football player. He played as a halfback and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL) from 1952 to 1966 for the Chicago Cardinals and the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football for the San Francisco Dons and was selected by the Cardinals in the first round of the 1952 NFL draft.

Timothy Ashley Worley is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs, earning consensus All-American honors in 1988. Worley was selected in the first round of the 1989 NFL draft with the seventh overall pick. He played in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears.

Pervis R. Atkins Jr. was an American football player and actor.

Alexander Wright is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Raiders and St. Louis Rams. He was a two-time winner of the NFL's "Fastest Man" competition. He played college football at Auburn University.

Pettis Burch Norman is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and the San Diego Chargers. He played college football at Johnson C. Smith University.

Kenneth Wayne Hill is a former National Football League (NFL) player whose career lasted ten seasons, from 1980 until 1989. Hill played for the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, New York Giants, and Kansas City Chiefs and earned three Super Bowl rings, the first two with the 1980 and 1983 Raiders, the third with the 1986 New York Giants. Hill is the first and only Ivy League football athlete to have played on three Super Bowl championship teams.

Richmond McDavid Flowers Jr. is a former American football safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants. He played college football at the University of Tennessee and was drafted in the second round of the 1969 NFL Draft. He was also a track All-American in college.

Daryl E. Johnson was an American football defensive back who played in the American Football League (AFL), the National Football League (NFL), and the World Football League (WFL). He was a member of the Boston Patriots and was a member of the Patriots 1960s All-Decade Team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brooke Brewer</span> American athlete (1894–1970)

Edward "Untz" Brooke Brewer (1894–1970) was an American athlete. Brewer played two seasons of professional football with the Cleveland Indians and the Akron Pros in the National Football League (NFL). He was considered one of the best high school quarterbacks in the country and played college football at Maryland State College. Brewer was also an accomplished track and field athlete.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of Johnson C. Smith University

The Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls are the athletic teams that represent Johnson C. Smith University, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, in intercollegiate sports at the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association since the 1926–27 academic year.

Kermit Blount is an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Winston-Salem State University from 1993 to 2009, Delaware State University from 2011 to 2014 and at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina from 2015 to 2021. He is a Winston-Salem State alumnus who played quarterback for the Rams from 1976 to 1979, and was a teammate of future National Football League (NFL) player Timmy Newsome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlin Isles</span> American rugby sevens player, known for speed

Carlin Isles is an American rugby union player who plays for the United States national rugby sevens team. With 202 tries, Isles is second for the United States in career tries scored, behind teammate Perry Baker. Isles has been touted as the fastest rugby player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Carolina Panthers season</span> NFL team season

The 2013 season was the Carolina Panthers' 19th in the National Football League (NFL) and their third under head coach Ron Rivera. NFL.com ranked the Panthers' schedule as the strongest in the league, with opponents having a combined 2012 record of 138–116–2 and a winning percentage of .543.

References

  1. The ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia (first ed.). Sterling Publishing. 2007. ISBN   978-1-4027-4216-3.
  2. "Pro Football Archives". August 9, 2023.
  3. Miller, Norm. “Giants’ Versatility Limited.” New York Daily News, July 22, 1976. Pg. 27C
  4. Caudle, Neil. Beamer. Amazon Publishing, Oct. 16, 2023.
  5. Nelson, Murry. "The Illinois Slush Fund Scandal of 1966-67." Sport in American History, 20 October 2014.
  6. "J. C. Smith back has 9.3 time," The New Courier, Pittsburgh, October 31, 1970, pg. 15.
  7. Nunn, Jr., Bill. “All-American teams big, talented.” The New Courier, Pittsburgh, December 26, 1970, pg. 14.
  8. "Galax Second in State Track Meet," Galax Gazette, May 24, 1966, pg. 8.
  9. Bowman, Tommy, "Hall of Fame: Tim Beamer," Galax Gazette, Aug. 15, 1983, pg. 6.
  10. Caudle, Neil. Beamer. Amazon Publishing, Oct. 16, 2023.