Dennis Claridge
American football player (1941–2018) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dennis Bert Claridge (August 18, 1941 – May 1, 2018) was an American football player, a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons.[1] He played college football at the University of Nebraska under head coaches Bill Jennings and Bob Devaney,[2] and later attended its dental school.[3]
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Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||
Born: | (1941-08-18)August 18, 1941 Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. | ||||||||||||
Died: | May 1, 2018(2018-05-01) (aged 76) Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S. | ||||||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||
Weight: | 220 lb (100 kg) | ||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||
High school: | Robbinsdale (MN) | ||||||||||||
College: | Nebraska | ||||||||||||
NFL draft: | 1963 / Round: 3 / Pick: 39 | ||||||||||||
AFL draft: | 1963 / Round: 26 / Pick: 201 (Oakland Raiders) | ||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||||||||
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Claridge played high school football in Minnesota at Robbinsdale, a suburb northwest of Minneapolis. As a senior in college in 1963, he led Nebraska to an undefeated season in the Big Eight Conference, a 9–1 regular season, and a victory over Auburn in the Orange Bowl.
Selected in third round of the 1963 NFL Draft as a junior eligible, Claridge stayed in college and joined the Packers in 1964. He was a member of the NFL championship team in 1965, playing behind Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr and Zeke Bratkowski under head coach Vince Lombardi.[1][4] Claridge was selected in the 1966 expansion draft by the Falcons.[5] Green Bay was interested in reacquiring him for the 1967 season, but he left the NFL after three seasons to complete dental school.[3]
Claridge later worked as an orthodontist in Lincoln, Nebraska. He died in 2018 of bladder cancer at the age of 76.[6]