| No. 43, 32, 38 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Running back | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | (1941-10-11)October 11, 1941 Trenton, New Jersey, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died: | March 9, 2019(2019-03-09) (aged 77) Winter Park, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Coral Gables Senior (FL)[1] | ||||||||
| College: | Georgia Tech | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1963: 5th round, 57 (by theLos Angeles Rams)[2]th pick | ||||||||
| AFL draft: | 1963: 15th round, 120th pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Joseph Auer (October 11, 1941 – March 9, 2019) was an American professionalfootball player who was arunning back in theAmerican Football League (AFL) for theBuffalo Bills (1964–1965) and theMiami Dolphins (1966–1967), and in theNational Football League (NFL) for theAtlanta Falcons.[3] He graduated fromCoral Gables Senior High School inCoral Gables,Florida and playedcollegiately forGeorgia Tech.
He is most remembered for returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown for the Dolphins in their first regular-season football game in1966, 95 yards against theOakland Raiders.[4] Subsequently, he was the Dolphins' Most Valuable Player.
Auer is best known as a professionalAmerican football player. He playedcollege football atGeorgia Tech, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering and also held a Gator Bowl record (44 years) for his 68-yard touchdown run from scrimmage. Later to be broken by Leon Washington in 2005 on his 69-yard run.[5] He was drafted by theKansas City Chiefs and after a productive preseason got traded to the Buffalo Bills for a first-round draft pick, where he played for two years as arunning back on their 1964 and 1965 championship team. When the brand new Miami Dolphins found that their running game was ineffective after their first two exhibition games, they acquired Auer off of waivers from theLos Angeles Rams.[6] He played for theMiami Dolphins before ending his career in the National Football League with theAtlanta Falcons.[7] Auer is most famous for taking the opening kickoff in the Miami Dolphins' first-ever game in 1966 and returning it 95 yards for a touchdown in front of 26,000 fans including Steve Siegert, Les Clements and Ware Cornell. He went on to be the Dolphins’ leading scorer that year; not surprisingly, he became the Dolphins' first MVP.[5]
After retiring from football, Auer founded RaceCar Engineering, a company that built high-quality race cars, some of which set track records and won championships for the company's customers. He then beganCompetitive Edge Motorsports, racing both theBusch andNextel Cup Series inNASCAR between 2004 and 2006.[8]