Ron Widby, one of the greatest athletes in University of Tennessee history, died this week at the age of 75.
Widby is the only athlete in Tennessee’s modern era to earn varsity letters in four sports, and nobody in university history has earned more than his eight varsity letters – three in football (1964-66), three in basketball (1965-67), one in baseball (1965) and one in golf (1966). During the 1966-67 school year, he was named an All-American punter for Doug Dickey’s 1966 Gator Bowl champions before earning All-America honors and Southeastern Conference player of the year after starring on the court for Ray Mears.
Tennessee went 21-7 during the 1966-67 basketball season and won the SEC with a 15-3 mark, and Widby would finish his Volunteers hoops career with 1,432 career points and an average of 18.1 per game. On March 4, 1967, the 6-foot-4, 210-pounder racked up 50 points during an 87-60 rout of LSU in Stokely Athletics Center, which stood as a Tennessee single-game scoring record for nearly 20 years.
Widby averaged 42.3 yards per punt during his three-year Tennessee football career and averaged 43.8 yards as a senior in 1966, a clip that led the nation. He was selected in 1967 by the New Orleans Saints in the NFL draft, the New Orleans Buccaneers in the American Basketball Association draft and the Chicago Bulls in the NBA draft.
After playing one ABA season, Widby turned to football and would assemble a six-year playing career – four with the Dallas Cowboys (1968-71) and two with the Green Bay Packers (1972-73). During his time in Dallas, the Cowboys reached Super Bowl V, where they lost to the Baltimore Colts, and Super Bowl VI, where they beat the Miami Dolphins.