Walt Sweeney

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Walt Sweeney
Born	(1941-04-18)April 18, 1941 Cohasset, Massachusetts
Died	February 2, 2013(2013-02-02) (aged 71)
Position(s)	Guard
College	Syracuse
AFL Draft	1963 / Round 1 / Pick 2
NFL Draft	1963 / Round 8 / Pick 107 (by the Cleveland Browns)
Jersey #(s)	78
Career highlights
AFC-NFC Pro Bowl	AFL All-Star 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969 NFL Pro Bowl 1970, 1971, 1972
Honors	AFL All-Time 2nd Team San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame San Diego Chargers 50th Anniversary Team
Statistics
Pro Football Reference NFL.com DatabaseFootball
Teams
1963–1969 1970–1973 1974–1975	AFL San Diego Chargers NFL San Diego Chargers NFL Washington Redskins

Walter Francis Sweeney (April 18, 1941 – February 2, 2013) was an American football offensive lineman and end, who played college football at Syracuse University, where he made the school's all-century team. He also played in the North-South Game and the College All-Star Game. A first-round draft pick of the San Diego Chargers in 1963, Sweeney helped them win the American Football League championship.

A premier guard, he was versatile enough to fill in at virtually any offensive line position. Sweeney was named to All-Star teams and Pro Bowls for nine consecutive years at offensive guard, beginning with the 1964 AFL All-Star Team, and in 1970 was selected to the All-Time All-AFL second team.

Sweeney spent 11 seasons as an offensive guard with the Chargers, then played two seasons with the Washington Redskins.^[1]

Sweeney, who stood 6'4" and weighed 256 pounds, was such an intimidating presence on the field that Merlin Olsen famously remarked he'd "rather sell used cars" than play against Sweeney each game.^[1]

Sweeney was among several Chargers fined by the league in 1974 for drug use.^[1] A fierce critic of the NFL, he blamed the league for his prolonged problems with drugs and alcohol. To the end of his life he retained this bitterness. "If a guy breaks his back in the N.F.L., they’ll pay him. That didn’t happen to me. Instead, these guys broke my mind."^[2]

He briefly served as a drug counselor at a San Diego hospital and appeared with Nancy Reagan in a promo for her "Just Say No" campaign.^[1]

Sweeney died of pancreatic cancer on February 2, 2013.^[3]

References

External links

San Diego Chargers 1963 AFL Champions

Head Coach Sid Gillman

Coaches: Walt Hackett; Joe Madro; Chuck Noll; Bones Taylor

v t e San Diego Chargers first-round draft picks

Stickles Faison Ferguson Sweeney T. Davis DeLong D. Davis Billingsley R. Washington Hill Domres Babich Gillette Burns Rodgers Matthews Goode Johnson M. Williams J. Washington Rush Jefferson Winslow Brooks Smith Anderson Byrd L. Williams Cade Lachey O'Neal FitzPatrick Bernstine Miller Grossman Seau Richard Mims Gordon Leaf Tomlinson Jammer S. Davis Manning Merriman Castillo Cromartie C. Davis Cason English Mathews Liuget Ingram Fluker

AFC East BUF MIA NE NYJ North BAL CIN CLE PIT South HOU IND JAX TEN West DEN KC OAK SD NFC East DAL NYG PHI WAS North CHI DET GB MIN South ATL CAR NO TB West ARI STL SF SEA

v t e San Diego Chargers 50th Anniversary Team

Offense	QB Fouts Hadl Humphries Rivers RB Lincoln P. Lowe Means Muncie Tomlinson WR Alworth Chandler Garrison Jefferson Joiner TE Gates Winslow T Mix Washington Wright G Dielman Sweeney White Wilkerson C Hardwick Macek

Defense	DE Dean Faison O’Neal DT Johnson Kelcher Ladd Williams LB Allen W. Lowe Merriman Seau Smith DB Buchanon Byrd Harrison Jammer McNeil

Special teams	K Benirschke Carney KR Duncan Sproles P Bennett Scifres ST Bauer Osgood

Coaches	Coryell Gillman Ross

Persondata
Name	Sweeney, Walt
Alternative names
Short description	American football player
Date of birth	April 18, 1941
Place of birth	Cohasset, Massachusetts
Date of death	February 2, 2013
Place of death

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Walt Sweeney

See also

References

External links