Ricky Churchman

Ricky Churchman
No. 33
Position:Defensive back
Personal information
Born: (1958-03-14) March 14, 1958 (age 66)
Pearland, Texas, U.S.
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school:Pearland
College:Texas
NFL draft:1980 / round: 4 / pick: 84
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Richard Cecil Churchman (born March 14, 1958) is an American former professional football defensive back who played two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL) where he earned a Super Bowl ring. He played college football at the University of Texas at Austin and attended Pearland High School in Pearland, Texas.[1]

College career

Churchman played for the Texas Longhorns from 1976-1979, the last three as a starter, playing on a team that was ranked #1 for most of the season and which came one-win away from winning the National Championship in 1977. In that season, the Longhorns suffered numerous injuries at quarterback, and when their only healthy QB had to come out for a single play to change his torn uniform, Churchman was sent in for one play to hand the ball off to Johnny "Lam" Jones. Jones ran the ball 70 yards for a touchdown.[2]

The next season, the team finished #9 after winning the Sun Bowl and the season after that was #12 after losing the Sun Bowl. in 1979 he made the All-Southwest conference team. In 1992, he was named to the Austin American-Statesman Longhorns' All-Centennial Team.[3]

Professional career

Churchman was drafted by the 49ers in the fourth round of the 1980 NFL draft. During the third pre-season game he suffered a knee injury that would later end his career.[4] He was a rookie starter in his first season, when the 49ers defense featured four rookie starters and in a game against the Patriots, he caught two interceptions as the 49ers recorded a club-record six interceptions in a game.[5] He finished the season on the injured reserve list with a pair of injuries to the thigh and shoulder. In the offseason he had the first of 3 knee surgeries.[4]

In 1981, he started the season still recovering from his knee injury, but saw playing time early in the season. In October he underwent another knee surgery and spent the rest of the season on the injured reserve. The San Francisco 49ers won Super Bowl XVI and he earned a ring, but he did not play in that game or any of the playoff games. He had a third knee surgery in early 1982. At the start of the 1982 season, he was cut by the 49ers.[6]

Later life

Churchman returned to Texas, earning a Business degree and then went to work for Lockheed where he was a business manager for the company's Tomahawk Cruise Missile Project.[4] Later he moved to Richland, WA, where he worked as the controller and director of finance and accounting for Lockheed's Mission Support Alliance that provided services to cleanup contractors.[7]

References

  1. ^ "RICKY CHURCHMAN". profootballarchives.com. Archived from the original on March 18, 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  2. ^ "LETTERS TO THE SPORTS EDITOR". Austin American-Statesman. December 5, 1993.
  3. ^ "A thundering herd all by himself". Austin American-Statesman. November 22, 1992.
  4. ^ a b c "Churchman limps after his painful, successful career". Austin American-Statesman. November 22, 1993.
  5. ^ "6 interceptions tie 49er club record in 21-17 upset of Patriots". The Baltimore Sun. December 1, 1980.
  6. ^ "Transactions". The Baltimore Sun. September 1, 1982.
  7. ^ Bohls, Kirk (November 29, 2017). "There are better ways to fire coach, serve players". Austin American-Statesman.