Bobby Beathard

Robert King Beathard Jr. ( ; born January 24, 1937) is an American former football executive who was a general manager in the National Football League (NFL). Over the course of his 38 years in the NFL, his teams competed in seven Super Bowls (winning four times), beginning with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1966, Miami Dolphins in 1972 and 1973, Washington Redskins in 1982, 1983, and 1987, and the San Diego Chargers in 1994. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
Early life and playing career.
Beathard was born in Zanesville, Ohio, before moving to El Segundo, California, at the age of four. He attended El Segundo High School but did not begin playing football until his sophomore year, as a tailback. In college, he accepted a scholarship to play football for LSU, but returned home after summer practices after feeling homesick. He then enrolled at El Camino Junior College for a year before enrolling at Cal Poly, where he played football as a back-up running back and later the starting quarterback and defensive back, leading Cal Poly to back-to-back 9–1 seasons. He went undrafted in 1959 and had pre-season stints with two professional teams, but was unable to find a spot, spending his early post-college years playing semi-pro football and working various non-football jobs.
Executive career.
Scout.
Beathard first joined pro football in 1963 as a part-time scout for the Kansas City Chiefs. He left the Chiefs briefly to scout for the American Football League and returned to Kansas City full-time in 1966. He earned his first AFL championship ring as a member of the 1966 Chiefs organization.
Beathard served as a scout for the Atlanta Falcons from 1968 through 1971. He was named director of player personnel for the Miami Dolphins on February 22, 1972, succeeding Joe Thomas whose contract dispute with team owner Joe Robbie culminated with his resignation three days prior. The Dolphins won the following two Super Bowls.
General manager.
In 1978, the Washington Redskins named Beathard general manager. During his tenure in Washington, Beathard, Russ Grimm, Joe Gibbs, and Art Monk helped lead the Redskins to three Super Bowl appearances and two championships. In addition, the 1991 championship team for the Redskins was primarily composed of players that Beathard had brought to the Redskins. Prominent draft picks for the Redskins under his tenure include Art Monk, Mark May, Russ Grimm, Dexter Manley, Charlie Brown, Darrell Green, Charles Mann, and Gary Clark. Beathard resigned prior to the 1989 NFL Draft, and spent the year as a studio analyst with "NFL on NBC". In 1990, Beathard joined the San Diego Chargers as general manager. In just his third season in San Diego, the organization won its first division title in more than a decade and, appeared in its first Super Bowl in 1994. He retired in 2000.
Personal life.
Beathard resides with his wife Christine in Franklin, Tennessee. Beathard's younger brother, Pete Beathard, was a quarterback at USC, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Oilers. One of Beathard's sons, Casey Beathard, is a country music songwriter. His other son, Kurt Beathard, is a football coach, formerly the offensive coordinator for Illinois State. His grandson, Jeffery "Bobo" Beathard, played four years at Appalachian State University as a wide receiver; while other grandsons, C. J. Beathard is a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers and Tucker Beathard is a singer-songwriter. In December 2019, another one of Beathard's grandsons, Clayton Beathard, an LIU Sharks quarterback, along with another individual; were murdered in a bar fight in Nashville, Tennessee defending a woman.
Beathard participated in the 1984 New York City Marathon. From 2005 to 2009, Beathard was a consecutive 5 time first place winner in the men's age 65 and over group at the World Bodysurfing Championships held annually in Oceanside, California. Beathard was inducted into the Cal Poly Mustangs Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Chargers Hall of Fame in 2018.