 Sanders (far right) at hisPro Football Hall of Fame Bust Unveiling Ceremony atFord Field in 2007 | |||||||||
| No. 88 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Tight end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1946-08-25)August 25, 1946 Richlands, North Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died | July 2, 2015(2015-07-02) (aged 68) Royal Oak, Michigan, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 225 lb (102 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | James B. Dudley (Greensboro, North Carolina) | ||||||||
| College | Minnesota (1965–1967) | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1968: 3rd round, 74th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Charles Alvin Sanders (August 25, 1946 – July 2, 2015) was an American professionalfootball player who was atight end for theDetroit Lions of theNational Football League (NFL) from 1968 to 1977. Sanders was chosen for the NFL's1970s All-Decade Team and voted into thePro Football Hall of Fame in 2007.
Sanders was born in 1946 inRichlands, North Carolina.[1] He attendedJames B. Dudley High School inGreensboro, North Carolina, where he played for thefootball,basketball, andbaseball teams.[2]
Sanders attended theUniversity of Minnesota, where he playedcollege football for theGolden Gophers.[3] He was named to theAll-Big Ten Conference Team in his senior year, when he recorded 21receptions for 276 yards with twotouchdowns, as Minnesota tied for the Big Ten championship with an 8–2 record.[4]
The Lions selected Sanders in the third round of the1968 NFL draft, and he became theirstarting tight end for the next ten seasons. He had 336 career receptions for 4,817 yards and 31 touchdowns.[1] He was also known as a superiorblocker. Sanders was chosen for thePro Bowl seven times (1968–71, 1974–76).[5] He was the onlyrookie to be named to the1969 Pro Bowl, following a season where he had forty receptions for 533 yards.[6] Sanders was also selected as a first-teamAll-Pro for the1970 and1971 seasons, receiving the most votes of any player in both years.[7] During an exhibition game in1976, he injured his right knee, but continued to play until his retirement at age 31 in November1977.[5][8]
Sanders was named to theNFL 1970s All-Decade Team as selected by voters of thePro Football Hall of Fame.[6] He was inducted into theNorth Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1997,[9] and the Minnesota M Club Hall of Fame in 2013.[4] In 2008, Sanders was chosen as a member of the Lions' 75th Anniversary All Time Team.[10]
Sanders served as acolor analyst on Lions radio broadcasts from 1983 through 1988, worked with the team as an assistant coach in charge of wide receivers from 1989 to 1996, returned to perform radio broadcasts in 1997, and then joined the Lions' front office as ascout.[5] He became the team's assistant director of pro personnel in 2000,[11] and held the role until his death.[12] In 2005, he co-authoredCharlie Sanders' Tales from the Detroit Lions, a book of anecdotes about the team and its players.[5]
Sanders also worked in the team's community relations department and served as a spokesman for theUnited Way andThe March of Dimes. He created The Charlie Sanders Foundation in 2007, which provided two college scholarships per year for students fromOakland County,Monroe, Michigan, and his home state of North Carolina. In 2012, he began the "Have A Heart Save A Life" program (within the foundation) to raise funds to provide heart (EKG) screenings to young people. In August 2012, the first "Charlie Sanders Have A Heart Save A Life Celebrity Golf Outing was held in West Bloomfield, Michigan.St. Jude Children's Research Hospital honored Sanders for his charitable work in 2014.[11][5]
Sanders and his wife, Georgianna, had nine children[5] and lived inRochester Hills, Michigan. Charlie has nine children Mia, Charese, Mary Jo, Georgianna Jr., Charlie Jr., Nathalie, Talissa, Wayne and Jordan. One of his daughters,Mary Jo is a pro boxer, and three of his sons played college football: Charlie Sanders Jr. atOhio State University and had a brief NFL career with the Detroit Lions; one son formerly played atSaginaw Valley State University; and one son is currently playing atSaginaw Valley State University, after transferring from Michigan State University.[13][12]
Sanders developed amalignant tumor behind his right knee, which was discovered while he was undergoingknee replacement surgery. Sanders underwentchemotherapy, but died on July 2, 2015, inRoyal Oak, Michigan, from cancer.[11][14]
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