Buster Ramsey
No. 20 | |
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Position: | Guard, linebacker |
Personal information | |
Born: | Townsend, Tennessee | March 16, 1920
Died: | September 16, 2007 Signal Mountain, Tennessee | (aged 87)
Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
Weight: | 219 lb (99 kg) |
Career information | |
High school: | Knoxville (TN) |
College: | William & Mary |
NFL draft: | 1943 / Round: 14 / Pick: 124 |
Career history | |
As a player: | |
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As a coach: | |
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Career highlights and awards | |
Head coaching record | |
Regular season: | 11–16–1 (.411) |
Player stats at PFR | |
Coaching stats at PFR | |
Garrard Sliger "Buster" Ramsey (March 16, 1920 – September 16, 2007) was an American football player who starred at William and Mary and was the first head coach of the American Football League's Buffalo Bills in 1960. Prior to coaching the Bills, and after a stint in the United States Navy during World War II, Ramsey played for the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1951 and a member of the 1947 NFL Champions. In 1951, Ramsey became a player-coach for the Cardinals before becoming the defensive coach for the Detroit Lions in 1952. During his tenure with the Lions, Ramsey is credited with devising the 4-3 defense, a staple of modern football, and being the first coach to blitz linebackers, a package he called Red Dog. The Lions won three World Championships in the 1950s with Ramsey running the defense. He developed Lions greats such as Yale Lary, Jack Christiansen, Jim David, and many others. In 1960, he was lured to the new AFL as coach of the Buffalo Bills. Though fired by Bills' owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. after the 1961 AFL season, Ramsey is credited for laying the foundation of one of the best defensive teams in the history of the AFL. He also had a brother, Knox Ramsey, who also starred for the College of William and Mary, the Chicago Cardinals, and the Washington Redskins. Ramsey was elected into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1974, and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1978.
See also
References
External links
- Buster Ramsey at the College Football Hall of Fame
- Buster Ramsey at Find a Grave
- First Bills coach Garrard "Buster" Ramsey dies USA Today September 18, 2007
- 1920 births
- 2007 deaths
- American football guards
- Buffalo Bills coaches
- Chicago Cardinals coaches
- Chicago Cardinals players
- Detroit Lions coaches
- Pittsburgh Steelers coaches
- William & Mary Tribe football players
- College Football Hall of Fame inductees
- American military personnel of World War II
- United States Navy personnel
- People from Blount County, Tennessee
- Sportspeople from Knoxville, Tennessee
- Players of American football from Tennessee
- American football coach stubs
- American football offensive lineman, 1920s birth stubs