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| No. 8, 38 | |||||||||||||
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| Position | Fullback | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | (1921-05-28)May 28, 1921 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Died | May 25, 2003(2003-05-25) (aged 81) Marietta, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 201 lb (91 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | Tech (Atlanta, Georgia) | ||||||||||||
| College | Georgia Tech | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1943: undrafted | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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William Avner Paschal Jr. (May 28, 1921 – May 25, 2003) was an American professionalfootballfullback in theNational Football League for theNew York Giants and theBoston Yanks.
Paschal was born inAtlanta,Georgia and attendedTech High School, where he playedfootball andtrack.[1] He then played briefly atGeorgia Tech before injuring his knee. After the injury, he left school and went to work as arailroad switchman in Georgia.[1]
After his knee healed, Paschal got a tryout with theNew York Giants on the recommendation of the sportswriterGrantland Rice and eventually signed with New York in1943 for $1,500.[1] He became the first player to win consecutiverushing championships in the NFL, gaining 572 yards on 147 carries in his rookie year and 737 yards on 196 rushes in his second year. He also led the league in rushing touchdowns both years, with ten in 1943 and nine in1944.[1]
Paschal was then traded to theBoston Yanks during the1947 season and played through1948, before retiring. He gained 2,430 yards with 28 rushing touchdowns for his career.[1]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1943 | NYG | 9 | 3 | 147 | 572 | 3.9 | 54 | 10 | 9 | 74 | 8.2 | 24 | 2 |
| 1944 | NYG | 10 | 6 | 196 | 737 | 3.8 | 68 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1945 | NYG | 4 | 1 | 59 | 247 | 4.2 | 77 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 5.5 | 6 | 0 |
| 1946 | NYG | 10 | 1 | 117 | 362 | 3.1 | 30 | 4 | 9 | 78 | 8.7 | 35 | 2 |
| 1947 | NYG | 4 | 0 | 41 | 139 | 3.4 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 |
| BOS | 8 | 4 | 37 | 124 | 3.4 | - | 1 | 3 | 67 | 22.3 | 30 | 0 | |
| 1948 | BOS | 12 | 6 | 80 | 249 | 3.1 | 20 | 1 | 8 | 93 | 11.6 | 22 | 4 |
| 57 | 21 | 677 | 2,430 | 3.6 | 77 | 28 | 32 | 326 | 10.2 | 35 | 8 | ||
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1943 | NYG | 1 | 0 | 16 | 56 | 3.5 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1944 | NYG | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 0 | 18 | 59 | 3.3 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Paschal and his wife, Carolyn had four daughters and a son.[1]