Chuck Foreman
| No. 44 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Running back | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | October 26, 1950 Frederick, Maryland | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| College: | Miami (FL) | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1973 / round: 1 / pick: 12 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Walter Eugene "Chuck" Foreman (born October 26, 1950) is a retired American football player. He was a running back during his National Football League career, and often caught passes out of the backfield. He played college football at the University of Miami.
Early career
Foreman was a standout athlete in football, basketball and track at Frederick High School in Frederick, Maryland. His ability in football to catch passes out of the backfield was evident throughout his years on varsity at Frederick High School. He played center on Frederick High's outstanding basketball team, which narrowly missed the state title his senior year.
Foreman attended the University of Miami, where he played defensive back, wide receiver and running back.
- 1970: 196 yards rushing and 103 yards receiving
- 1971: 15 yard TD pass. 966 yards rushing and 72 yards receiving.
- 1972: 484 yards rushing and 557 yards receiving with 3 TD.
Professional career
The Minnesota Vikings first round draft choice in 1973, Chuck Foreman was selected with the 12th overall pick in the draft. He was a consensus choice as the National Football Conference (NFC) Rookie of the Year in 1973, when he rushed for 801 yards on 182 attempts and caught 37 passes for 362 yards.
Foreman was named NFC player of the year by The Sporting News in 1974 and by UPI in 1976. He was named All-Pro in 1975 and played in five consecutive Pro Bowls (1973–1977). Foreman had 3 straight seasons rushing for 1,000+ yards (1975–1977) and scored a then NFC record 22 Touchdowns in 14 games during the 1975 campaign. Foreman just missed a rare NFC 'Triple Crown' (rushing yards, receptions & TDs) in 1975 as well. During the last regular season game of 1975 the Vikings were playing the Buffalo Bills at Rich Stadium on Saturday, December 20 --- a nationally televised game on CBS --- during a classic Buffalo, NY snowstorm. Foreman was having a fantastic game despite the conditions. He finished with 85 yards rushing, 10 receptions and four TDs in less than three quarters. After Foreman's third score (which gave him 21 TDs for the year, one shy of the NFL mark), Fran Tarkenton joked in the huddle, "Anybody who gets to the one-yard line, go out of bounds. We want some touchdowns for Chuck."
The crowd was getting ornery. Not only were the Bills being clobbered, 28-6, but it was looking like Foreman and not hometown hero O.J. Simpson might walk away with the TD record. Simpson had gotten his 22nd TD of the season in the first half, equaling Gale Sayer's 1965 total, but Foreman and the Vikes were really on a roll.
Late in the 3rd quarter Foreman was chasing a pass thrown out of the end zone when he was hit in the eye by a snowball. He went out of the game for a couple of plays, then returned with blurred vision and caught a six-yard touchdown pass to tie Sayers and Simpson with 22 TDs. That was it, though. He spent the last quarter on the bench.
Less than a minute later, Simpson scored on a 54-yard reception to surpass Sayers & Foreman. The next day, St. Louis' Jim Otis, playing only the first half, gained 69 yards in 14 carries to edge Foreman for conference rushing honors, 1,076 to 1,070. During that same season, Foreman also led the NFL in receptions with 73, a record for receptions by a running back. Foreman amassed 51 touchdowns over a 3-year span (1974–1976). Foreman played in 3 Super Bowls with the Vikings. Injuries plagued him throughout the 1978 and 1979 seasons and Foreman was subsequently traded to the New England Patriots, where he spent the 1980 season before retiring.
His pass-catching ability out of the backfield, combined with the ability to make the first tackler miss, was a key in the Minnesota Viking offense, which was sort of a precursor of the West Coast Offense which became popular in the following decades. Chuck is widely known as "The Spin Doctor" for his elusive way of avoiding would-be tacklers.
Personal life
- Chuck's son Jay Foreman played linebacker in the NFL from 1999 to 2006
- Chuck is a substitute teacher in Minnesota at Bloomington Kennedy High School and Bloomington Valley View Middle School in Bloomington, Minnesota
- Chuck hosts a weekly internet radio talk show called SPIN IT! with Chuck Foreman
Giving Back
Sound Advice For Life is a student development program established by Chuck Foreman to provide positive reinforcement and guidelines for a productive life.
Awards and honors
- 1973: MVP of college's Senior Bowl
- 1973: NFL Rookie of the Year
- 2005: College Football Hall of Fame honored Chuck with the Community Service Award
- 2007: Inducted to the Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor
Career statistics:
- Rushing: 5,950 total yards. 1,556 carries (3.8 yard average); 53 touchdowns
- Pass receptions: 350 passes for 3,156 yards (9.0 yard average); 23 touchdowns