Dunn and Anthony Murray and that would go on to make it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, losing to eventual champion Indiana. He was a backup in Super Bowl XIV as a member of the Los Angeles Rams, he was a backup to Super Bowl MVP Phil Simms in Super Bowl XXI as a member of the New York Giants, and was a backup in Super Bowl XXVI as a member of the Washington Redskins. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. (Sugar Jets was a reference to a brand of cereal from the 1950s and '60s.). Place kicker Ali Haji-Sheikh of the New York Giants kicks a field goal during a game against the New Orleans Saints at Giants Stadium on December 15,. Rutledge led Montgomery Bell Academy to a 41-17 record from 20022006, with two state *les in 2002 and 2003 and a #15 ranking in the final USA Today Super 25 poll in 2003. Most likely, Tony would not have been drafted by the NFL's Miami Dolphins, and regrettably, he also would have missed out on starting in two Super Bowls, as well as being part of one of the most famous plays in Dolphins' history. Experienced backup quarterbacks can be valuable when injuries strike. Rutledge was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. But there was one catch. McNeal has been a pastor and counselor at the church, and he and Nathan are close, a friendship that dates back to their playing days at Alabama. View the profiles of professionals named "Jeff Rutledge" on LinkedIn. Nathan scored Woodlawn's only touchdown on a 13-yard run in the fourth quarter. "When people say Tony Nathan, their ears go up. "Well, Shula knew what talent was," Nathan says. That 1974 Banks-Woodlawn game would be Shorty White's 100th win at Banks, and his last. "But I was raised in the church anyway. "So it was a great lesson for me. "If we needed him to throw the football, I knew he could definitely do that. Banks came in riding a 34-game unbeaten streak, its last loss coming to Woodlawn, 21-18, three years before. "But it didn't bother me that I was forced to go to Woodlawn because a lot of my friends were at Woodlawn, too.". So you go all out and do what you can do just to fit in.". "He looked like he had a jet pack on his back," Baumhower recalls. His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. Newton stood behind Nathan as he sat next to his parents and got his picture taken signing his letter of intent. "He wasn't too pleased," Nathan recalls. That year, the Cardinals made a late season run and earned a Super Bowl berth, but lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-23. (Photo courtesy of Tony Nathan). Established network of influencers, political staff, department officials and media, supporting sound execution of public affairs initiatives. Tony is a very revered guy here in our community, here in our church community.". said Rutledge. American football player and coach (born 1957), Alabama Crimson Tide starting quarterbacks, Washington Commanders starting quarterbacks, 1978 Alabama Crimson Tide footballAP national champions, Alabama Crimson Tide football yearly statistical leaders, History of the New York Giants (19791993), "High School Football Database - All-American (Parade 1974)", "Jeff Rutledge Named as Football Head Coach - Valley Christian High School", "NFL vet Rutledge returning as high school coach", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jeff_Rutledge&oldid=1134094507, High school football coaches in Tennessee, Coaches of American football from Alabama, Players of American football from Birmingham, Alabama, Articles with dead external links from October 2010, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 17 January 2023, at 00:15. A creative problem solver with refined approach to crisis communications and media management. He is survived by his beloved wife of nearly 38 years, Traci (Ellis) Rutledge and their four children, Hannah, Jacob, Marilynn, and Haylee Rutledge; his two granddaughters, Amelia and Ramona Banerjee as well as his many nieces, nephews, and their families-all of whom he cherished greatly. ", Woodlawn's Tony Nathan ran for 112 yards and scored a touchdown in the 1974 Banks-Woodlawn game, but Banks linebacker Greg Muse was all over him all night long. Jerry McDonald, a split end and defensive back, turned down college football offers and decided to play baseball instead after he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates. In April 2010, Rutledge agreed to become the head football coach at Pope John Paul II High School in Hendersonville, Tennessee; where he coached for two seasons, leading the Knights to a 4-18 record. See also [ edit] Rule 5 draft results References [ edit] The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. The next year, I was on injured reserve. Rutledge, first, and then Stan Humphries were knocked out of the game, leaving emergency quarterback Brian Mitchell (a kick returner and former college quarterback) to finish the game. The quiet, introverted Nathan didn't know quite what to make of all that attention. Trivia (4) Quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams (1979-1981), New York Giants (1983-1989) and Washington Redskins (1990-1992). "It was an amazing thing to see all of those kids -- who grew up together and went to church together, played at Wahouma Park together - in that room together that night," Stearns says. "But this particular year, we were both undefeated going in. Jeff Rutledge's net worth "I remember going back and forth to get more tickets to sell. (Birmingham News file/Charles Nesbitt). Where was Jeff Rutledge born? This week, Birmingham filmmakers Jon and Andrew Erwin began shooting a movie, "Woodlawn," which takes place during Nathan's days at Woodlawn High School and focuses in on that 1974 Banks-Woodlawn game. Rivals in high school, Nathan and Rutledge were teammates for four years at Alabama. White is now retired and living with his wife, June, in Helena. Gerelds' plan to move Nathan to running back was paying off handsomely, too.Sometime during that junior season -- maybe it was after he ran for 231 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-12 upset of the No. "Up until my eighth-grade year, I had been going to Banks games all my life, watching Jeff Rutledge's older brother, Gary, and Johnny Musso play,'' Ragland says. Jeff Rutledge Biography. Woodlawn grads included Harry Gilmer, who was an All-American at Alabama and the MVP of the 1946 Rose Bowl, and Bobby Bowden, who coached Florida State to two national championships on his way to becoming the winningest coach in college football history. "I said, 'What's wrong, Mike, they didn't have crowds like this at Locust Fork?'" (Birmingham News file/Robert Adams). Bill Battle, the young coach at Tennessee, wanted Nathan to come play for him in Knoxville, and Vols star quarterback Condredge Holloway showed him around on his official visit. "That's why, for two years, we had a lot of focus and attention on Woodlawn. Everybody else was gone home for Christmas vacation, and I was like, 'What am I doing here?' If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Jeffrey Ronald Rutledge (born January 22, 1957) is an American football coach and former professional quarterback. Jeff Rutledges income source is mostly from being a successful Player. ', "She said, 'No, but even more so, you're not going to be a quitter. (Birmingham News file/Charles Nesbitt). It's tough for me to tell her to wait. Tony -- the second oldest of five siblings -- used to wear out the grass playing ball with their neighbors in the backyard of their house in Parker Heights, near the airport. The purchase date corresponds with most of the transfers from Mr. Slaughter's account, according to the suit. ''You gear up for a time when you're going to get together as a family. "Almost everybody who played in that (1974) game, you may not have been close friends with them, but you knew who they were," Grefseng, the Banks linebacker, says. He resigned in the Spring of 2012 to return to Arizona to spend time with his family. "There wasn't anybody that came to see me play or any of the other guys. There's something always new at the courthouse.". It hardly seemed like a swan-song performance. As depicted in the upcoming "Woodlawn" movie, droves of players, Nathan included, stepped forward to commit their lives to Christ that night. His brother Gary Rutledge was also a quarterback at Alabama from 1972 to 1974. He is not dating anyone. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. of development through completion. During preseason camp, evangelist Wales Goebel, who became a born-again Christian after alcohol destroyed his small-college basketball career and nearly cost him his life, came to share his story with the Woodlawn players. A couple of weeks before their game, Banks' White alerted the Legion Field staff to expect a monster crowd. "We just sat up there and watched," Martin, now retired, recalls. Rutledge earned MVP honors at the 1978 Sugar Bowl and also earned All-SEC honors in 1978 and 1979. In May 2013, Rutledge was hired by Valley Christian High School in Chandler, Arizona as a full-time staff member and also to lead the football program. "And then they told me that that guy (Nathan) was an All-American basketball player, and he wasn't going to be playing football. His finest moment as a professional player came when as a member of the Redskins he came off the bench in a game versus the Detroit Lions in 1990. . Woodlawn High School had a much longer history that went back to 1916, when the community of Woodlawn was annexed into Birmingham. Woodlawn never beat Banks during Nathan's three years on the varsity. I was so elated that he did it, and I thank the Lord that he did.". "It was one heck of a game. 3 QUARTERBACK, https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/24/sports/uneasy-lies-the-head-of-no-3-quarterback.html, Frank Litsky, Special To the New York Times. I wasn't too sure about him running the wishbone at that time, but he did a very good job and it was great to play with him.". He also led the Crimson Tide to two Sugar Bowl appearances and two SEC Championships. "Each gate had four openings in it for four lines of people," Garrett says, "but it still obviously wasn't enough.". ''I wanted to know what he was thinking. He played college football at Alabama, where he was the team's starting quarterback for their 1978 National . The game, though, was way bigger than its two stars, a pair of Parade All-Americans who were among the most sought-after high school recruits in the country. "I didn't have to worry about cutting grass because they played all the time.". White says he was assured by the Legion Field crew that it would be able to handle the crowd. Though Rutledge was available, no other team signed him. Banks quarterback Jeff Rutledge, who would later lead Alabama to a national championship and play on two Super Bowl-winning teams, and Woodlawn running back Tony Nathan, who would become Rutledge's teammate at Alabama and go on to play in two Super Bowls of his own, were the marquee attractions. 1957 "I told him, me being so far behind, I didn't want to flunk out. Six years later, he led the Tigers to an undefeated 15-0 season and a 4A state championship. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Nathan played nine years with the Dolphins and started in two Super Bowls. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Rutledge and his wife had just moved into their dream house in Atlanta, but felt it was the best job available. "I had some professors walk up to me and say, 'Hey, we were around when you were playing.'. Trailing 35-14 with 10:37 left in the third quarter Rutledge replaced an ineffective Stan Humphries and led a great comeback. We had a blast. Trailing 35-14 with 10:37 left in the third quarter Rutledge replaced an ineffective Stan Humphries and led a great comeback. And since Banks and Woodlawn were in the same region -- and both were competing in 4A, which was then the largest high school classification in the state -- only one of them would advance. Jeffrey Ronald Rutledge (born January 22, 1957) is an American football coach and former professional quarterback. One of them said on the phone, 'What did you get me?' All rights reserved (About Us). [4], Rutledge is a Christian and attends Arizona Community Church in Chandler. Later, while at Belmont High School in Mississippi, Gerelds was diagnosed with brain cancer, and he died in 2003, coaching right up until the end. Fast learner, critical thinker with an eye for efficiency, and generally fun guy. (Birmingham News file/Charles Nesbitt). "The trouble is, it's on VHS cassette, and my VHS player died years ago.". That was Laura Holmes, whom Rutledge later met when his Fellowship of Christian Athletes adviser suggested that he ask her to go with him to the team banquet following his freshman year at Alabama. Rutledge spent most of his career as a back-up quarterback and a holder on kicks. It took him 36 years, but Nathan kept that promise to his coach. QB Born: January 22, 1957 in Birmingham, AL Drafted: 1979 Rnd 9, Pick 246 by LA: College: Alabama: Career Stats Career Stats Game Log Game Log Splits Splits. He is married to his wife Laura and has 3 children.[7]. After completing the eighth grade, those students who would have gone to Banks instead went to Woodlawn High School, Banks' old rival. Jeff Rutledge was born on 22 January, 1957 in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, is an American football coach and former quarterback. So they put the pressure on him, too. [2] Rutledge spent most of his career as a back-up quarterback and a holder on kicks. are hard-pressed to remember the final score. (Photo courtesy of Tony Nathan). '", So just think, if Louise Nathan hadn't put her foot down, maybe no one would have ever heard of "Touchdown Tony.". On fourth down with a yard needed, he was sent by head coach Bill Parcells for a potential decoy play. By WARNER HESSLER Staff Writer. "'And you told me you didn't want me to play this game. Trailing 35-14 with 10:37 left in the third quarter Rutledge replaced an ineffective Stan Humphries and led a great comeback. That game meant that Rutledge got the nod to start the following week on Monday Night against the Philadelphia Eagles in a game that was to become infamously known as the "Body Bag Game". ", Tony Nathan strikes a Heisman-like pose as he tries to avoid a linebacker. Internal communications and employee engagement pro with a tech focus and multi-disciplinary background. Not once, but twice, both teams were sent back to their respective locker rooms to allow the crowd to file into the stadium. Rutledge was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. On one particular visit, Bryant brought his overnight bag, Tony's father remembers. Contact . "It was time for people to actually get along -- no matter what race or color you were," he says. When the Cardinals hired a new offensive coordinator at the end of that season, Rutledge and most of the offensive staff were fired. Banks High School - named for school superintendent L. Frazier Banks - opened in 1957 in Birmingham's South East Lake neighborhood and fielded its first football team three years later. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. "I think I had lost to Banks four times in three years because my freshman year, I played them as a freshman and on the B-team. "This was before Bo Jackson," Ragland, the Woodlawn quarterback, says. A few years ago, though, Nathan realized one thing was missing in his life. It was Grefseng's only touchdown catch of his Banks career. Jeff Rutledge was born on January 22, 1957 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. (Photo courtesy of Tony Nathan). Stearns recalls. Another, a little fireplug of a linebacker who had moved to Birmingham from Texas the year before, became the surprise defensive star of the game. He was the starting quarterback on the 1978 National Championship team. "That's a scary thought now," the 58-year-old Nathan says of what might have been. He resigned in the Spring of 2012 to return to Arizona to spend time with his family. Tony started playing pickup basketball games with some older boys in the neighborhood, and he was good enough that he was recruited to play in a rec league at Huffman Park. Many of the players on both teams grew up playing pee-wee football together at East Lake and Wahouma parks, and as teenagers, they hung out together at Eastwood Mall. In April 2010, Rutledge agreed to become the head football coach at Pope John Paul II High School in Hendersonville, Tennessee; where he coached for two seasons, leading the Knights to a 4-18 record. Relationships We have no records of past relationships for Jeff Rutledge. From Banks, defensive lineman Freddie Knighton signed with Alabama, running back Jerry Murphree went to LSU, and linebacker Bob Grefseng played at Ole Miss. 1-ranked Huffman Vikings -- Woodlawn fans started calling Nathan "Touchdown Tony" and began clamoring for pictures and autographs. On signing day, both Bryant and Alabama basketball coach C.M. He is from United States. Drafted in the ninth round of the 1979 NFL Draft (246th overall pick) by the Los Angeles Rams,[2] Rutledge played in 14 NFL seasons[3][5] from 1979 to 1992 for three different teams. William Nathan, who worked as millwright at Connors Steel in Birmingham, made his son Tony his first football by stitching together a strip of Naugahyde and stuffing it with rags and cotton balls. (Birmingham News file) In the 1980s,. He finished his college career with a 33-5 record as a starter, which currently ranks him as the University of Alabama's seventh all-time winningest quarterback. The other day, Rutledge called his wife and told her to wait. If all that notoriety affected Nathan, none of his teammates could tell. His most notable play with the Giants came in Super Bowl XXI in the third quarter. That same night, Banks' 35-game unbeaten streak came to an abrupt end when Rutledge blew out an ankle and the banged-up Jets lost 34-27 to West End. The quiet Nathan, who teammates say tried to shy away from all of the attention, was one of Birmingham's first superstar black athletes in a city that was still adjusting to integration. He would just tear it off and throw it up in the crowd. Playing in the wishbone -- a four-pronged attack with two tailbacks, a fullback and the quarterback all sharing carries -- Nathan never amassed huge numbers like Crimson Tide workhorses Bobby Humphrey or Shaun Alexander or Trent Richardson, but for his career, he averaged an eye-popping 6.4 yards every time he carried the ball at Alabama. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. It all built up to Nov. 8, 1974, when Woodlawn, which had won 11 games in a row, met its old nemesis Banks, which was riding a 34-game unbeaten streak, at Legion Field. Once he started playing, though, she never let him quit. Efforts to reach him for this story were unsuccessful. Coach Bill Parcells will probably keep three this year, but there is no guarantee. Woodlawn students used to yell, ''Rip those Sugar Jets," which was a reference to this brand of cereal. View Jeff Rutledge results in Munford, AL including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. Tony Nathan holds his youngest brother, Cedric, after he announces in December 1974 that he will attend the University of Alabama. Jeff Rutledge, Nathan's old rival from Banks, was now his teammate, quarterbacking the Tide. "There are people who went to that game that I've heard from all my life," Rutledge says. "You wouldn't have known him to be any different from any of the other players on the team," Hendrix, who went on to play briefly with the NFL's Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers, says. Something like that. "Some of the other running backs didn't want to be that lead blocker. . This Korean War-era Sabre jet, which was loaned to Banks High School in 1961, was repainted in school colors and prominently displayed on campus. Mike Perez was waived Tuesday, leaving Rutledge as the only other quarterback on the roster. Unbeknownst to either one of them at the time, she would later marry one of the game's biggest heroes. When the other team did not pick up on Rutledge, he took the snap and did a sneak up the middle for yardage that gave the Giants a first down that would eventually lead to a go-ahead score. (Linebacker) Barry Krauss could play today. Their two-year reign as 4A state champs also ended with a 12-0 shutout loss to eventual champion Homewood in the first round of the playoffs. "They had the best running back in the state and we had the best quarterback," former Banks head coach George "Shorty" White remembers. Once the game did start, Banks built an 18-0 lead on a pair of 21- and 16-yard touchdown runs by fullback Jerry Murphree and a 32-yard TD pass from Rutledge to Grefseng, who also doubled as a back-up tight end. "It was always the biggest game of the year, for both sides," Rutledge says. After the season ended, he accepted an assistant coaching position on Paul "Bear" Bryant's staff at Alabama, where he was part of back-to-back national championships in 1978 and 1979 -- the first of which featured Rutledge and Nathan in the starting backfield. Jeff Rutledge takes a breather during the 1974 Banks-Woodlawn game at Legion Field in Birmingham. Rutledge was born to Tony and Cheryl Rutledge in Cullman, Alabama, on April 21, 1989. People around the country were starting to notice him, too. ", RELATED:Remembering the 1974 Woodlawn-Banks game. It helped, too, that both Banks and Woodlawn were also blessed with some enormously talented athletes who weren't named Rutledge or Nathan and who also went on to play in the SEC and the NFL. After games, fans mobbed Nathan to get a piece of his jersey. [3][5][6] Rutledge led Montgomery Bell Academy to a 41-17 record from 20022006, with two state titles in 2002 and 2003 and a #15 ranking in the final USA Today Super 25 poll in 2003. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. If it had been up to Louise Nathan, her son Tony never would have touched a football. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Jeffrey Ronald Rutledge (born January 22, 1957) is a former American football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. When it came time to pick a college, Nathan considered going to Oklahoma, where renegade coach Barry Switzer was lighting up the scoreboard with a high-powered wishbone offense that was the talk of college football. A Valuable Commodity. ", Tony Nathan is joined by his wife, Johnnie, and his daughters Nichole, Natalie and Nadia at his induction into the Miami Dolphins Walk of Fame in 2014. He is currently the head football coach at Valley Christian High School (Chandler, Arizona) in Chandler, Arizona. The name still resonates in the state, especially since Jeff Rutledge was homegrown (Birmingham) and in 2011 was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. ''Maybe it will make them think a bit or at least make their decision tough. From his perch in the press box, Birmingham News sportswriter Wayne Martin could see the pedestrian bottleneck at the south entrance of Legion Field, as well as an unbroken strand of headlights from the long line of cars on Graymont Avenue, which was backed up all the way to downtown. His zodiac sign is Aquarius More about Jeff Rutledge Photo Gallery Jeff Rutledge Jeff Rutledge . (Photo courtesy of Banks High School Facebook page). To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. The week of the game, Jerry Stearns, who was an assistant coach at Woodlawn that year and later became the head coach there, recalls selling advance tickets at the school, something he says never happened before. Jeff Rutledge Jeffrey Ronald Rutledge Position: QB Throws: Right 6-1 , 195lb (185cm, 88kg) Born: January 22 in Birmingham, AL (Age: 66-029d) More bio, uniform, draft, salary info 2x SB Champ 8 17 10 SUMMARY Career G 117 AV 8 QBrec 2-7-1 Cmp% 52.1 Yds 3628 Y/A 6.9 TD 16 Int 29 FantPt 151.0 Jeff Rutledge Overview Game Logs Career Postseason 1979 1980 How old is Jeff Rutledge? Following his senior season at Alabama in 1978, Banks' Jeff Rutledge went on to play 13 years in the National Football League. UNEASY LIES THE HEAD OF NO. Jeff Rutledge, of Newport, represents the White River and his term expires in 2024. The next year, Nathan and Rutledge became teammates at the University of Alabama. Meanwhile, Tuscaloosa was just an hour away, and one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game, Alabama's Paul "Bear" Bryant, had the Crimson Tide not just rolling again, but steamrolling. Sports Illustrated featured him in its "Faces in the Crowd" section after he ran for 228 yards and scored seven touchdowns against Ramsay, and late in the season, along with Banks quarterback Jeff Rutledge, he was named a Parade All-American. "We let them run and play," Tony's father, whom the family calls "Pops," says. In 2006, the Birmingham Board of Education decided to close the deteriorating middle school, too, saying it was unsafe and an eyesore. "All three kids were raised here. "It was a miserable way to end your season.". Rutledge, 58, who was the quarterbacks coach of the Cardinals in their only Super Bowl season, said Alabama never stopped aspiring to the biggest heights in college football since he left. The unsung hero, though, was a little linebacker named Greg Muse, who had transferred to Banksafter living in Texas. ''The first game Phil Simms goes down, they've got to get a quarterback. As the teams went through their pre-game drills, Woodlawn's Stearns noticed another assistant, Mike Logan, staring up into the stands with his mouth agape. I knew when I came to training camp that it would be tough. "Coach Tandy Gerelds was a fine man and a fine coach, and he had a lot to do with a lot of players on that team coming to know the Lord," Brad Hendrix, a senior defensive end on the '74 team, says. Along the sidelines, one of the best coaches in Alabama high school football history would notch his 100th victory, but he would never win another. A three-year starter, he also led Alabama to the #2 National ranking in 1977. I did believe. William Nathan asked, referring to Bryant's bag. Nov 09, 1990 at 12:00 am. If Roberts misses Saturday night's game, as seems likely, Damian Johnson will move to left guard and Brian Williams will replace Johnson at right guard. After Thursday morning's practice, the Giants will leave for their annual welcome-home lunch at the Sheraton Centre. He received his degree from Alabama in Business Administration and in 2011, was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. All three of Nathan's daughters have their college degrees - Nichole from South Florida and Natalie and Nadia from Alabama - as does his wife. cincy flames tournaments 2021, ostrich meat disadvantages, the eye of apollo father brown summary,

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