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| No. 18, 14, 10 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1942-10-02)October 2, 1942 Dallas, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died | July 2, 2000(2000-07-02) (aged 57) Las Vegas, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 203 lb (92 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | South Oak Cliff (Dallas, Texas) | ||||||||
| College |
| ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1965: 18th round, 249th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Karl Robert Sweetan(Pronounced: Swee-TAN) (October 2, 1942 – July 2, 2000) was an American professionalfootballquarterback. He played five seasons in theNational Football League (NFL), from 1966 to 1970, for three teams.
Sweetan grew up in Dallas and graduated fromSouth Oak Cliff High School in 1961.
Sweetan played football atNavarro Junior College andTexas A&M before transferring toWake Forest.
Sweetan was Wake Forest's starting quarterback in 1963, his senior year. He completed 79 of 218 passes for 674 yards, throwing one touchdown and 18 interceptions. His 218 pass attempts were the second highest in the conference, and fifth highest in the country.[1]
Undrafted by the National Football League out of college, Sweetan played quarterback and defensive back for theCanadian Football League’sToronto Argonauts during the 1964 season. In the1965 NFL draft, he was an 18th round draft choice of the Detroit Lions.
During his first season, in 1966, he replaced an injuredMilt Plum in an October 16 game against theBaltimore Colts. In that game, Sweetan threw a 99-yard pass toPat Studstill that will always be an NFL record forlongest pass completion. Sweetan was the second NFL quarterback to accomplish the feat; as of 2021, a total of 12 NFL quarterbacks have thrown a 99-yard pass, with the most recent beingEli Manning in 2011.[2]
Sweetan played himself in the 1967 movie,Paper Lion, which starredAlan Alda as an amateur participating at quarterback during the Lions preseason (based on an actual experience by the writerGeorge Plimpton).[3]
Sweetan gained a different kind of notoriety when it was alleged that he tried to sell an NFL football playbook to another team; however, the charge was not proven.[4]
Sweetan spent the last 27 years of his life in Las Vegas, where he worked for a series of casinos; his last job was as a baccarat dealer at the Las Vegas Hilton. He was survived by four daughters and a son.[5]
According to a 1966 article in the Detroit Jewish News, Sweetan said he was Jewish.[6]
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