In May 2013, Rutledge was hired by Valley Christian High School in Chandler, Arizona as a full-time staff member and also to lead the football program. Trailing 35-14 with 10:37 left in the third quarter Rutledge replaced an ineffective Stan Humphries and led a great comeback. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Playing in the wishbone -- a four-pronged attack with two tailbacks, a fullback and the quarterback all sharing carries -- Nathan never amassed huge numbers like Crimson Tide workhorses Bobby Humphrey or Shaun Alexander or Trent Richardson, but for his career, he averaged an eye-popping 6.4 yards every time he carried the ball at Alabama. 1-ranked Huffman Vikings -- Woodlawn fans started calling Nathan "Touchdown Tony" and began clamoring for pictures and autographs. The kids are disappointed. Later, while at Belmont High School in Mississippi, Gerelds was diagnosed with brain cancer, and he died in 2003, coaching right up until the end. Internal communications and employee engagement pro with a tech focus and multi-disciplinary background. "It wasn't hard to grab a piece of it. From Woodlawn, linebacker Rocha McKinstry signed with Auburn, and Hendrix, the defensive end, played with the University of North Alabama and later, the NFL's Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers. Alabama Crimson Tide football yearly statistical leaders, History of the New York Giants (19791993). They know they're going to get presents when they see me. Jeff Rutledge Jeffrey Ronald Rutledge Position: QB Throws: Right 6-1 , 195lb (185cm, 88kg) Born: January 22 in Birmingham, AL (Age: 66-029d) More bio, uniform, draft, salary info 2x SB Champ 8 17 10 SUMMARY Career G 117 AV 8 QBrec 2-7-1 Cmp% 52.1 Yds 3628 Y/A 6.9 TD 16 Int 29 FantPt 151.0 Jeff Rutledge Overview Game Logs Career Postseason 1979 1980 | Learn more about Jeff . (Photo courtesy of Banks High School Facebook page). Once the game did start, Banks built an 18-0 lead on a pair of 21- and 16-yard touchdown runs by fullback Jerry Murphree and a 32-yard TD pass from Rutledge to Grefseng, who also doubled as a back-up tight end. Meanwhile, Tuscaloosa was just an hour away, and one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game, Alabama's Paul "Bear" Bryant, had the Crimson Tide not just rolling again, but steamrolling. (Linebacker) Barry Krauss could play today. It wasn't so much the football I wanted. He was part of a team that earned back-to-back state titles at L. Frazier Banks High School in Birmingham, Alabama. Commissioner Rutledge, a native of Newport, graduated from Newport High School and earned a B.S. In overtime, he hit Art Monk with a vital 40-yard pass on third and 15 to help set up Chip Lohmiller's game-winning field goal. UNEASY LIES THE HEAD OF NO. "It was always the biggest game of the year, for both sides," Rutledge says. Perhaps that epic 1974 showdown at Legion Field between Birmingham high-school heavyweights Woodlawn and Banks would have been just another Friday night football game. He is currently single. I think Tony could definitely play today. "'And you told me you didn't want me to play this game. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. That year, the Cardinals made a late season run and earned a Super Bowl berth, but lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-23. With the arrival of head coach Tandy Gerelds in 1971, though, and the emergence of Nathan, who had a breakout junior season in 1973, Woodlawn started to level the playing field. Contents 1 Early years 2 College career 3 Playing career 4 Coaching career 5 Personal life 6 See also 7 References Early years Rutledge was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. They made great souvenirs, too, and fans mobbed him after the games to get a piece of Nathan's jersey. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Today, Ken O'Brien, the Jets' starter, broke a toe. Unfortunately, he doesn't remember anything about it. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. Out on the field, one of the players, a linebacker who also filled in as back-up tight end, caught the only touchdown pass of his high-school career, in what was by far the biggest game of his career. The game, though, was way bigger than its two stars, a pair of Parade All-Americans who were among the most sought-after high school recruits in the country. "It was the thrill of my life," Louise Nathan says. Rutledge, 58, who was the quarterbacks coach of the Cardinals in their only Super Bowl season, said Alabama never stopped aspiring to the biggest heights in college football since he left. Simms is the Giants' starter and Jeff Hostetler is No. 6'1", 195 lbs. He is not dating anyone. Jeffrey Hunter was born Henry Herman McKinnies Jr. on November 25, 1926 in New Orleans, Louisiana, an only child. That University of Alabama sorority girl who was in the stands at Legion Field that night? Place kicker Ali Haji-Sheikh of the New York Giants kicks a field goal during a game against the New Orleans Saints at Giants Stadium on December 15,. Jeff Rutledge Wiki: Salary, Married, Wedding, Spouse, Family Jeffrey Ronald Rutledge (born January 22, 1957) is an American football coach and former professional quarterback. See the article in its original context from. Drafted in the ninth round of the 1979 NFL Draft (246th overall pick) by the Los Angeles Rams, Rutledge played in 14 NFL seasons from 1979 to 1992 for three different teams. Based in Dallas, Texas with over 20 years of experience in concept, design, art direction, and production of print and web materials including: magazine / newspaper ads, brochures, collateral, direct mail, email graphics, logos, signage, and web graphics. "The trouble is, it's on VHS cassette, and my VHS player died years ago.". We just couldn't put the icing on the cake.". The easygoing Nathan had the ideal temperament for the job, Newman told him. Nathan played his entire NFL career with the Dolphins - retiring in 1987 after nine seasons in the aqua and orange - and he has continued to make Miami his home, even when NFL assistant coaching jobs took him to Tampa Bay, Baltimore and San Francisco. Rutledge, first, and then Stan Humphries were knocked out of the game, leaving emergency quarterback Brian Mitchell (a kick returner and former college quarterback) to finish the game. As the teams went through their pre-game drills, Woodlawn's Stearns noticed another assistant, Mike Logan, staring up into the stands with his mouth agape. In overtime, he hit Art Monk with a vital 40-yard p* on third and 15 to help set up Chip Lohmiller's game-winning field goal. On fourth down with a yard needed, he was sent by head coach Bill Parcells for a potential decoy play. ", RELATED: Turning back the clock at Legion Field. Jeff Rutledges income source is mostly from being a successful Player. "He wasn't too pleased," Nathan recalls. "But this particular year, we were both undefeated going in. Birmingham, AL. he recalls. In the 1980s, Banks High School -- home of those mighty Jets for all those years -- was closed as part of a city schools reorganization and it became Banks Middle School. Discover Jeff Rutledge's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. . View popular celebrities life details, birth signs and real ages. They included touchdown passes of 29, 20 and 43 yards. Gerelds' plan to move Nathan to running back was paying off handsomely, too.Sometime during that junior season -- maybe it was after he ran for 231 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-12 upset of the No. Charles Tillman Rutledge, Jr. Boiling Springs, SC Charles Tillman Rutledge, Jr., 80, of 2558 Old Furnace Road, passed away Thursday, June 20, 2019, at Spartanburg Hospital For Restorative Care . View the profiles of professionals named "Jeff Rutledge" on LinkedIn. The other day, Rutledge called his wife and told her to wait. Jeffrey Brooks Rutledge, Meg Rutledge, Christen Rutledge. "I said, 'What's wrong, Mike, they didn't have crowds like this at Locust Fork?'" "I said, 'If we win (the next game) and they win, we are both going to be undefeated when we play each other, and it's going to be the biggest high school crowd there ever will be,'" White recalls. Jeff Rutledge Biography. American football player and coach (born 1957) Jeffrey Ronald Rutledge (born January 22, 1957) is a former American football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. Nathan scored Woodlawn's only touchdown on a 13-yard run in the fourth quarter. After Friday morning's practice, they will break camp and return to Giants Stadium, where practices are closed to the public. He would just tear it off and throw it up in the crowd. Rutledge was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. As big as it was, though, even in these days where everything is just a Google or YouTube search away, only a few accounts and descriptions from that night are available, mainly in school yearbooks and newspaper archives. After completing the eighth grade, those students who would have gone to Banks instead went to Woodlawn High School, Banks' old rival. "He ate a few pieces of it, but he didn't eat much.". Meanwhile, Woodlawn High School stands majestically in the same location on First Avenue North, just like it has since 1922, and the football team is still sending players to the NFL, including Chris Davis, the Auburn cornerback who was the last-second hero of the 2013 Iron Bowl. So it's tough for her to hear that she should wait. Rutledge spent most of his career as a back-up quarterback and a holder on kicks. Nathan says. Almost assuredly, Nathan would not be the featured character in the upcoming movie "Woodlawn," which opens nationwide on Oct. 16, and most definitely, he would not have written a book, "Touchdown Tony: Running With a Purpose," which comes out Tuesday. Ragland, the Woodlawn quarterback, grew up in a house divided. Woodlawn, meanwhile, had a nice streak going, too, winning 11 in a row since it fell to Banks 17-7 in 1973. Jeffrey Ronald Rutledge (born January 22, 1957) is a former American football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. Contact . He completed 30 of 42 passes for 363 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 12 yards for the game-tying touchdown with only 24 seconds remaining. Finished career at Alabama has the school's leading passer, surpassing Joe Namath. Jeffrey Ronald Rutledge (born January 22, 1957) is a former American football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. DailyPress.com. So I had never beaten them.". "All I had ever seen of football games was everybody falling on each other and piling on each other," she says. And in the memories of those who were there. "We don't have any of the highlight reels from the '70s that they have from Bo Jackson's day, but Tony did some phenomenal things on the football field and on the basketball court. DeOssie, who has been starting at inside linebacker, strained his back lifting weights. He played college football at Alabama, where he was the team's starting quarterback for their 1978 National Championship victory, and was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the ninth round of the 1979 NFL Draft. (Photo courtesy of Tony Nathan). Most likely, Tony would not have been drafted by the NFL's Miami Dolphins, and regrettably, he also would have missed out on starting in two Super Bowls, as well as being part of one of the most famous plays in Dolphins' history. "Some of the other running backs didn't want to be that lead blocker. Where was Jeff Rutledge born? of development through completion. Woodlawn students used to yell, ''Rip those Sugar Jets," which was a reference to this brand of cereal. 3 QUARTERBACK, https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/24/sports/uneasy-lies-the-head-of-no-3-quarterback.html, Frank Litsky, Special To the New York Times. Jeff is survived by his wife, Dana; daughter, Payton Rutledge; son, Parker Rutledge; and several nieces and nephews. Tony started playing pickup basketball games with some older boys in the neighborhood, and he was good enough that he was recruited to play in a rec league at Huffman Park. "I had some professors walk up to me and say, 'Hey, we were around when you were playing.'. Jeff Rutledge, who played at Alabama after he graduated from Bank High School, is pictured here during the 1976 Alabama-Notre Dame game in South Bend, Ind. His two older sisters went to Banks, but after the Birmingham schools were desegregated, he was zoned for Woodlawn. 6' 1" (185 cm) How much does Jeff Rutledge weigh? After the season ended, he accepted an assistant coaching position on Paul "Bear" Bryant's staff at Alabama, where he was part of back-to-back national championships in 1978 and 1979 -- the first of which featured Rutledge and Nathan in the starting backfield. ''My first year in the league, with the Rams, it was hairy because they had so many quarterbacks in camp. In April 2010, Rutledge agreed to become the head football coach at Pope John Paul II High School in Hendersonville, Tennessee; where he coached for two seasons, leading the Knights to a 4-18 record. "But it didn't bother me that I was forced to go to Woodlawn because a lot of my friends were at Woodlawn, too.". His breakout moment came against Montgomery's Robert E. Lee Generals, when, late in the game, he scooped up a fumble and ran 38 yards for the winning touchdown. ", During his senior season at at Woodlawn High School in 1974, Tony Nathan was a Parade All-American and featured in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd." After seven seasons at Vanderbilt, Rutledge became the head coach at Montgomery Bell Academy, a school for seventh to 12th grade boys in Nashville. As a senior, he was a member of the 1974 Parade High School All-American team. A title search shows that Mr. Rutledge and his wife bought a property in Naramata for $1.15-million on Oct. 31, 2016. In April 2010, Rutledge agreed to become the head football coach at Pope John Paul II High School in Hendersonville, Tennessee; where he coached for two seasons, leading the Knights to a 4-18 record. He was a backup in Super Bowl XIV as a member of the Los Angeles Rams, he was a backup to Super Bowl MVP Phil Simms in Super Bowl XXI as a member of the New York Giants, and was a backup in Super Bowl XXVI as a member of the Washington Redskins. "That was neat, that she had just come up (for the game), not knowing anything that was going to happen years later," Rutledge says. (Birmingham News file/Charles Nesbitt). ''You gear up for a time when you're going to get together as a family. Newton stood behind Nathan as he sat next to his parents and got his picture taken signing his letter of intent. "That Banks-Woodlawn game our senior year, that was all about Tony and Jeff Rutledge," Hendrix says. Drafted in the ninth round of the 1979 NFL Draft (246th overall pick) by the Los Angeles Rams,[2] Rutledge played in 14 NFL seasons[3][5] from 1979 to 1992 for three different teams. He started taking online courses through the University of Alabama's Bama by Distance degree program, and this past May, at 58, he graduated. While it has been reported that only one gate was open that night, Walter Garrett, who was the stadium manager at Legion Field for 38 years, says that both gates 7A and 7B at the south entrance to the stadium were open, as was customary at all Birmingham high school games there. "It really did.". We definitely love Miami. ''But this is tough on the family. I can tell you, Tony had no trouble with his blocking.". We felt like we were probably the two best teams in Alabama, but only one of us was going to get to go to the state. Rutledge earned MVP honors at the 1978 Sugar Bowl and also earned All-SEC honors in 1978 and 1979.[4]. "So it was a great lesson for me. , money, salary, income, and assets. About Jeff Rutledge is a 66 year old American Football (American) Player born on 22nd January, 1957 in Birmingham, AL. "And then they told me that that guy (Nathan) was an All-American basketball player, and he wasn't going to be playing football. We prayed together, and from then on, I respected them and they respected me. "We had a ball. ", Tony Nathan runs behind his Miami Dolphins teammate Jeff Toews in a game against the New York Jets. Also learn how He earned most of networth at the age of 63 years old? Rutledge served as the quarterbacks and tight ends coach for the New York Sentinels of the United Football League in 2009. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). He was indeed a basketball guy, but Tony Nathan would be playing football for a long time. From Banks, defensive lineman Freddie Knighton signed with Alabama, running back Jerry Murphree went to LSU, and linebacker Bob Grefseng played at Ole Miss. (Photo courtesy of Tony Nathan). So by the time he arrived at Woodlawn High School to start the ninth grade, his reputation as a wizard of the basketball court preceded him. View Jeff Rutledge results in Munford, AL including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. Jeff Rutledge date of birth: January 22, 1957. Ragland recalls. "And you're not going to be the first.". We were playing in front of 20,000 people regularly, so we were getting some big crowds.". WE BUY HOUSES ANY PRICE ANY CONDITION CALL 205 966 4880 NOW. They all came to see Tony.". In 2006, the Birmingham Board of Education decided to close the deteriorating middle school, too, saying it was unsafe and an eyesore. "You wouldn't have known him to be any different from any of the other players on the team," Hendrix, who went on to play briefly with the NFL's Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers, says. "It was supposed to be a quick pass but somebody got in there and almost sacked Jeff. "It's been home a long time," Nathan says. ', "I said, 'I will do that. His parents met at the University of Arkansas, and when he was almost four his family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Plan B was the system under which each N.F.L. If they cut me and someone picks me up, they would have to get someone else not familiar with their system.'' A few years ago, though, Nathan realized one thing was missing in his life. Now he is here and his family is there, and no one is happy. "Including his wife. At 65 years old, Jeff Rutledge height not available right now. The Colonels had something else going for them, too. Menu Log In Sign Up "His jersey would just be hanging on him," Woodlawn teammate Brad Hendrix says. Rutledge served as the quarterbacks and tight ends coach for the New York Sentinels of the United Football League in 2009. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Jeff Rutledge was born on 22 January, 1957 in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, is an American football coach and former quarterback. That year, the Cardinals made a late season run and earned a Super Bowl berth, but lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-23. "Before I signed to go to Alabama, Coach Bryant told me, 'Well, look, you can try out (for basketball), but if you're not within the top six, you've got to come back out for spring ball.'''. I knew it even before that, when Plan B came along.'' Jeffrey Ronald Rutledge (born January 22, 1957) is a former American football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. The attendance was out of this world.". (Photo courtesy of Tony Nathan). "I played with older guys, and I wanted to be able to play on their level," Nathan says. fatal car accident in tulare county / how to endorse a check for mobile deposit wells fargo / jeff rutledge wife. Even though the Dolphins eventually lost in overtime, the play lives on in Miami lore. Drafted in the ninth round of the 1979 NFL Draft (246th overall pick) by the Los Angeles Rams, Rutledge played in 14 NFL seasons from 1979 to 1992 for three different teams. Jeff Rutledge, Nathan's old rival from Banks, was now his teammate, quarterbacking the Tide. Denny Ragland, who would become the Woodlawn starting quarterback during Nathan's senior season in 1974, knew something was up during freshman football practice, when most of the basketball team came out just to see what the 14-year-old Nathan could do on the football field. "I did accept Christ in my life at that time, they say," Nathan says. He was worn out, and he was just tearing the rest of his jersey off.". If it had been up to Louise Nathan, her son Tony never would have touched a football. He received his degree from Alabama in Business Administration and in 2011, was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. They attended some of the same churches and dated some of the same girls. ", Tony Nathan is joined by his wife, Johnnie, and his daughters Nichole, Natalie and Nadia at his induction into the Miami Dolphins Walk of Fame in 2014. After games, fans mobbed Nathan to get a piece of his jersey. We had a blast. As depicted in the upcoming "Woodlawn" movie, droves of players, Nathan included, stepped forward to commit their lives to Christ that night. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. (Birmingham News file) In the 1980s,. I knew when I came to training camp that it would be tough. Experienced backup quarterbacks can be valuable when injuries strike. When the Cardinals hired a new offensive coordinator at the end of that season, Rutledge and most of the offensive staff were fired. Last year, Nathan was inducted into the Dolphins' Walk of Fame, immortalized alongside such legendary Dolphins as Dan Marino, Bob Griese, Paul Warfield, Larry Csonka and Nick Buoniconti in the sidewalk outside Miami's Sun Life Stadium. "The other thing about the wishbone, if you were a truly good back in the wishbone, you had to block, too,'' says Murray Legg, who, as a defensive back on those Alabama teams, often went up against Nathan in practice.