The most influential executive in the history of the NFL’s Washington franchise, Bobby Beathard, died at 86 on Monday.
Beathard played college football at Cal Poly before a brief stint in the NFL as a player. He was on the preseason roster of the then-Washington Redskins [1959] and San Diego Chargers [1961]. Interestingly enough, those would be the teams Beathard would spend the majority of his executive career with.
Beathard began his scouting career in 1963 with the Kansas City Chiefs. In 1968, he moved to the Atlanta Falcons, where he spent the next three years before landing a promotion with the Miami Dolphins in 1972 as the director of player personnel. The Dolphins won two Super Bowls while Beathard served in his role, including the famous 1972 team that went undefeated.
It was in 1978 that Beathard landed with Washington as the general manager. He built rosters that went to three Super Bowls, winning two, and was responsible for drafting multiple future Hall of Famers, such as Darrell Green, Art Monk and Russ Grimm. He is also the GM who hired Joe Gibbs as Washington’s head coach in 1981.
Beathard was Washington’s general manager for 10 years before resigning in 1989. After taking a year off, Beathard accepted the role as general of the San Diego Chargers in 1990 for 10 seasons.
Beathard built a Chargers roster that went to the first Super Bowl in their franchise history in 1994. He retired in 2000.
After retirement, Beathard earned spots in Washington’s Ring of Fame, the Chargers Hall of Fame and the Cal Poly Hall of Fame. In 2018, he received the ultimate honor as he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Fittingly, it was Gibbs who was there to introduce Beathard.
Beathard’s son Jeff is a national scout with the Washington Commanders, and his grandson C.J. just finished his sixth NFL season in 2022 with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
We’ll have more on the life and legacy of Bobby Beathard.
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