Ron Widby, the 1967 SEC Player of the Year in basketball and punt for the Dallas Cowboys’ first Super Bowl championship, has passed away. He was 75.
Widby, who lived in Allen, Texas, died Tuesday. He had been in poor health for the past few years.
Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Widby played for six seasons in the NFL and began his career with the Cowboys after being originally drafted by the New Orleans Saints in 1967. He played 81 games in the NFL, and his 84-yard kick in 1968 remains Dallas’s record for longest kick.
Widby averaged 42 yards per punt for his career and ended his NFL career with two seasons in Green Bay. In his first season with the Packers, Widby completed the only two passes of his career, including one for a touchdown.
He was selected in three professional checkers in two sports. In addition to drafting him by New Orleans in 1967, Widby was drafted by the New Orleans Buccaneers in the 1967 ABA draft and by the Chicago Bulls in the same year’s NBA draft.
Widby spent a season with the Bucs in the ABA before returning to football.
At the University of Tennessee, Widby became the only athlete to earn varsity letters in four sports. He played on the soccer team for three seasons, three on the basketball team, one on the baseball team, and played golf for a year.
He led the NCAA with a punt average of 43.8 yards in 1966. In basketball, Widby was SEC Player of the Year 1967 after leading Tennessee to the SEC Championship that season.