![]() Bettis on a 1955 Bowman football card | |||||||||
No. 58, 65 | |||||||||
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Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||
Born: | (1933-03-17)March 17, 1933 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||
Died: | February 28, 2015(2015-02-28) (aged 81) Katy, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||
Career information | |||||||||
High school: | St. Mel (Chicago) | ||||||||
College: | Purdue | ||||||||
NFL draft: | 1955: 1st round, 5th pick | ||||||||
Career history | |||||||||
As a player: | |||||||||
As a coach: | |||||||||
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Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Coaching profile at Pro Football Reference ![]() |
Thomas William Bettis (March 17, 1933 – February 28, 2015) was an American professionalfootball player and coach in theNational Football League (NFL). He played for nine seasons as alinebacker.
Bettis playedcollege football for thePurdue Boilermakers, earning first-teamAll-American honors in 1954. He was selected by theGreen Bay Packers in the first round of the1955 NFL draft 5th overall. He played nine seasons for the Packers, thePittsburgh Steelers, and theChicago Bears. After his playing career, Bettis went on to coach in the NFL for 30 years, including for the 1969–70 Super Bowl IV champions and the 1966–67 AFL champions, theKansas City Chiefs. Bettis served as interim coach of the Chiefs in 1977 after the firing ofPaul Wiggin. In seven games ashead coach, Bettis compiled a 1–6 record, ending a 12-year stint as a coach of the Chiefs. He returned in 1988 to be the defensive backs coach of the Chiefs. He was inducted into both the Purdue University Athletic Hall of Fame and the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame.[1]
Bettis died on February 28, 2015.[2]
Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
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Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
KC* | 1977 | 1 | 6 | 0 | .143 | 5th in AFC West | — | — | — | — |
Total | 1 | 6 | 0 | .143 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
* – Interim head coach
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