It wasn't anything boastful for him. Wore number 17 for the New York Giants. Finished career at Alabama has the school's leading passer, surpassing Joe Namath. 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. Jeff Rutledge, of Newport, represents the White River and his term expires in 2024. Nathan says. . "Some of the other running backs didn't want to be that lead blocker. We had a blast. On Nov. 8, 1974 -- 40 years ago this Saturday - the two-time defending state champion Banks Jets met their eastern Birmingham rivals the Woodlawn Colonels in front of what was then and remains today the biggest crowd to ever watch a high school football game in Alabama. 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. Ragland recalls. 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. ''It's an odd world, isn't it?'' When he retired from football, Nathan also got into coaching - first with the Dolphins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and then at Florida International University. Rutledge played collegiately at Alabama, where he was a member of three SEC Championship teams under Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. 66. Manage Settings 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. He played college football at Alabama, where he was the team's starting quarterback for their 1978 National . Some of the choices Jeff Rutledge made during his journey to become an NFL assistant coach were difficult. Rutledge lived up to his star billing that night, completing 9 of 10 passes for 188 yards and that touchdown to Grefseng. 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. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. We prayed together, and from then on, I respected them and they respected me. I told Coach Gerelds that I didn't want him to be anywhere near the ball.". Jeffrey Ronald Rutledge (born January 22, 1957) is an American football coach and former professional quarterback. The year before, Logan had coached at rural Locust Fork High School in Blount County. "We were just talking about it. "It touched me," he says. 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. His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. Tony Nathan, left, goes to midfield for the pre-game coin toss with his Woodlawn High School teammates Mike Allison, center, and Peyton Zarzour, right. [2] Rutledge spent most of his career as a back-up quarterback and a holder on kicks. In those days, the Banks-Woodlawn rivalry was like the Alabama-Auburn of Birmingham high school football, but maybe just a little friendlier. Josh Rutledge, a 'Bama man, tries to make his place in Boston Internal communications and employee engagement pro with a tech focus and multi-disciplinary background. He received his degree from Alabama in Business Administration and in 2011, was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. Soon enough, though, Tony would be all around the ball. But Norman, Okla., was cold and rainy when Nathan went to visit, and besides that, Switzer never bothered to come visit Nathan and his parents in Birmingham. After completing the eighth grade, those students who would have gone to Banks instead went to Woodlawn High School, Banks' old rival. One of them said on the phone, 'What did you get me?' Jeff was in the flooring business and owned Vintage Wood Floors, Inc. Fast learner, critical thinker with an eye for efficiency, and generally fun guy. "In high school, he was the best quarterback in the state of Alabama, and Coach Bryant did his job. He resigned in the Spring of 2012 to return to Arizona to spend time with his family. Like Jackson, Nathan excelled at just about any sport he played. . YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. It took him 36 years, but Nathan kept that promise to his coach. Bold denotes league leader. On one particular visit, Bryant brought his overnight bag, Tony's father remembers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Meanwhile, Woodlawn High School stands majestically in the same location on First Avenue North, just like it has since 1922, and the football team is still sending players to the NFL, including Chris Davis, the Auburn cornerback who was the last-second hero of the 2013 Iron Bowl. Ragland, the Woodlawn quarterback, grew up in a house divided. ", 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. At the age of 32, starting his 11th season as a National Football League quarterback, Rutledge was not sure he would make the. ''The first game Phil Simms goes down, they've got to get a quarterback. It wasn't so much the football I wanted. WE BUY HOUSES ANY PRICE ANY CONDITION CALL 205 966 4880 NOW. And while most college players today are bigger, faster and stronger now than they were during Nathan's college days, Legg has no doubt that, had Nathan come along four decades later, Nick Saban would find a place for him with Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake in the Crimson Tide's current running back rotation. Following his senior season at Alabama in 1978, Banks' Jeff Rutledge went on to play 13 years in the National Football League. said Rutledge. "And I didn't like that. All rights reserved (About Us). "This was before Bo Jackson," Ragland, the Woodlawn quarterback, says. The film builds to a finale where Woodlawn meets crosstown rival Banks, quarterbacked by Jeff Rutledge, who would eventually play at Alabama with Nathan. Nov 09, 1990 at 12:00 am. . "I was like, 'All right, it's that time.'". Senior Consultant. Contact . They all came to see Tony.". Newman serves as a criminal court judge in Miami-Dade County, and six years ago, he hired Nathan to be a bailiff in his courtroom. 2. "It was just that time. The other day, Rutledge called his wife and told her to wait. He has established himself as a trusted advisor providing advice and direction to organizations in some of the most heavily regulated . "We were down 24-zip and nothing was going right, and that was the play that gave us the spark to come back. Trailing 35-14 with 10:37 left in the third quarter Rutledge replaced an ineffective Stan Humphries and led a great comeback. It hardly seemed like a swan-song performance. #Jeff #Rutledge #Wiki Biography #Age #Height #Wife #Net #Worth #Family Tags: Age Biography Family Height Jeff Net Rutledge Wife Wiki Worth 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 If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. ", RELATED: Turning back the clock at Legion Field. Jeff Rutledge | American Football Database | Fandom He and his wife, Johnnie, who was his high school sweetheart at Woodlawn and his college sweetheart at Alabama, still live in the same house they bought in 1983. Jeff is an experienced communications and public affairs professional with more than a decade working in government and the private sector. 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. Football was going to be it. ''You gear up for a time when you're going to get together as a family. "That's a scary thought now," the 58-year-old Nathan says of what might have been. See also [ edit] Rule 5 draft results References [ edit] In his teens, he acted in productions of the North Shore Children's Theater and, from 1942 to 1944, performed in . View popular celebrities life details, birth signs and real ages. After working as an assistant at Vanderbilt University and with the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL, Rutledge is now the head coach at Valley Christian High School in Chandler, Ariz. After four years at Alabama, Woodlawn's Tony Nathan was drafted in the third round of the 1979 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins, where he played for nine seasons under Don Shula, including two Super Bowls. As depicted in the upcoming "Woodlawn" movie, droves of players, Nathan included, stepped forward to commit their lives to Christ that night. You look at the schedule, and that was the one you've got marked down that you want to win. A backup for most of his career, he was a member of the New York Giants team that won a Super Bowl in Super Bowl XXI and the Washington Redskins team that won Super Bowl XXVI. Jeff Rutledge - McMillan Vantage So I had never beaten them.". "I was running down the baseline trying to follow my guy around, and, all of a sudden, they set a pick and this guy's elbow hit me in the eye and that cured my basketball desire," Nathan says. We will update Jeff Rutledge's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible. Quarterback Jeff Rutledge played 13 seasons for 3 teams. "You go through life carrying that (lesson): If you start it, you better try to be the best at it, and finish what you've got to finish," he adds. "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. In 2013, he married Laura McKeeman (who took Rutledge's name upon marriage), a reporter and host for ESPN and the SEC Network. All three of Nathan's daughters have their college degrees - Nichole from South Florida and Natalie and Nadia from Alabama - as does his wife. Established network of influencers, political staff, department officials and media, supporting sound execution of public affairs initiatives. Jeff Rutledge was born on 22 January, 1957 in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, is an American football coach and former quarterback. Not once, but twice, both teams were sent back to their respective locker rooms to allow the crowd to file into the stadium. The final count was an estimated 42,000 people -- roughly 10,000 more than the previous record crowd at the Crippled Children's Classic between Phillips and Woodlawn, also at Legion Field, in 1950. Nathan played his entire NFL career with the Dolphins - retiring in 1987 after nine seasons in the aqua and orange - and he has continued to make Miami his home, even when NFL assistant coaching jobs took him to Tampa Bay, Baltimore and San Francisco. Woodlawn vs. Banks 1974: Remembering the biggest game in Alabama high Jeff Rutledge. "We knew each other from grammar school.". He resigned in the Spring of 2012 to return to Arizona to spend time with his family. Six years later, he led the Tigers to an undefeated 15-0 season and a 4A state championship. Charles Rutledge Obituary (1938 - 2019) - Boiling Springs, SC - Legacy 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. 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. A backup for most of his career, he was a member of the New York Giants team that won a Super Bowl in Super Bowl XXI and the Washington Redskins team that won Super Bowl XXVI. Tony Nathan, left, talks with Jeff Rutledge, right, after the famous Woodlawn-Banks high school football game at Legion Field in 1974. According to our records, Jeff Rutledge is possibly single. (Birmingham News file/Charles Nesbitt). 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. He was the starting quarterback on the 1978 National Championship team. He is from United States. After games, fans mobbed Nathan to get a piece of his jersey. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Trailing 35-14 with 10:37 left in the third quarter Rutledge replaced an ineffective Stan Humphries and led a great comeback. "'And you told me you didn't want me to play this game. A title search shows that Mr. Rutledge and his wife bought a property in Naramata for $1.15-million on Oct. 31, 2016. DeOssie, who has been starting at inside linebacker, strained his back lifting weights. He said, 'Well, make sure you promise me you're going to finish what you started. He also led the Crimson Tide to two Sugar Bowl appearances and two SEC Championships. "It was weird," he says. 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. Welcome. They came out in such numbers that the start of the game had to be delayed twice so folks could work their way through the jammed Legion Field turnstiles. "I wanted some kind of meat to serve him," William Nathan remembers. He completed 30 of 42 passes for 363 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 12 yards for the game-tying touchdown with only 24 seconds remaining. "It's been home a long time," Nathan says. He received his degree from Alabama in Business Administration and in 2011, was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. He was part of a team that earned back-to-back state titles at L. Frazier Banks High School in Birmingham, Alabama. "Before Bo, there was Tony," Ragland says. "It was a culmination of really four years of building up to that point," Woodlawn quarterback Denny Ragland remembers. They included touchdown passes of 29, 20 and 43 yards. Discover today's celebrity birthdays and explore famous people who share your birthday. "There wasn't anybody that came to see me play or any of the other guys. Rutledge served as the quarterbacks and tight ends coach for the New York Sentinels of the United Football League in 2009. They got at least part of that right. At the age of 32, starting his 11th season as a National Football League quarterback, Rutledge was not sure he would make the Giants. Hoover, Alabama. The next year, I was on injured reserve. In the spring of 2007 Rutledge got his first NFL coaching job when he was hired as quarterbacks coach with the NFL's Arizona Cardinals, with direct charge over Kurt Warner. Learn How rich is He in this year and how He spends money? ----DeOssie and Roberts Out Steve DeOssie and William Roberts missed practice Wednesday. The stoic Nathan even teared up as walked across the Coleman Coliseum stage to receive his diploma from outgoing UA President Judy Bonner. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. His brother Gary Rutledge was also a quarterback at Alabama from 1972 to 1974. It's been very interesting. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Nathan scored Woodlawn's only touchdown on a 13-yard run in the fourth quarter. (Photo courtesy of Tony Nathan). 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. That year, the Cardinals made a late season run and earned a Super Bowl berth, but lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-23. I don't remember that whole week. No One Else Wanted Him. 6'1", 195 lbs. Nathan is flanked by his parents William and Louise Nathan. 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. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. he recalls. 1957 According to our Database, He has no children. A three-year starter, he also led Alabama to the #2 National ranking in 1977. "We let them run and play," Tony's father, whom the family calls "Pops," says. Stearns recalls. 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. An estimated 42,000 people poured into Legion Field that night -- a state high-school attendance record that still stands -- but as big as the game was, just as many people were curious to see its two superstars, Woodlawn's Nathan and Banks' Rutledge. He got permission from his academic advisers to drop his courses with a withdraw-passing grade and come back to finish his degree later. (Birmingham News file/Charles Nesbitt). Banks coach Shorty White had assigned Muse to shadow Woodlawn's Nathan everywhere he went, and although Nathan finished with 112 yards on 31 carries, Muse was all over him most of the night. Add to that the fact that, back in those days, only one team from each region made the state playoffs. Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. The easygoing Nathan had the ideal temperament for the job, Newman told him. How old is Jeff Rutledge? As a senior, he was a member of the 1974 Parade High School All-American team. 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. "But it didn't bother me that I was forced to go to Woodlawn because a lot of my friends were at Woodlawn, too.". (Photo courtesy of Tony Nathan). Birmingham police guessed another 20,000 gave up and went back home when they saw the long lines. [3][6], Rutledge served as the quarterbacks and tight ends coach for the New York Sentinels of the United Football League in 2009.[3].

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