 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Milt Woodard" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Milton Woodard | |
|---|---|
 Woodard in 1966 | |
| Born | June 4, 1911 Tacoma, Washington, U.S. |
| Died | March 3, 1996(1996-03-03) (aged 84) San Jose, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | College of Puget Sound (WA), B.A. 1933, (Journalism) University of Minnesota (MN) |
| Occupation(s) | Sports journalist, Sports executive |
| Spouse(s) | Corrine Nancy Frances |
| Children | 2; Ross and Linda |
| Football career | |
| Career history | |
| |
Milton P. Woodard (June 4, 1911 – March 3, 1996) was an American sports writer and sport executive. He was the President of theAmerican Football League until it merged with theNFL in 1970. Woodard served from July 1966 to March 1970, succeeding CommissionerAl Davis as chief executive of the League.
Woodard was born inTacoma, Washington, where he attendedStadium High School and ran track and played football. His father was a railroad worker. He attended the College of Puget Sound (now theUniversity of Puget Sound) in Washington, where he playedbaseball. He graduated in 1933. He subsequently went to theUniversity of Minnesota. Woodard had a distinguished career as a sportswriter for theTacoma News Tribune and at theChicago Sun-Times, where he served as the beat writer for theChicago White Sox. He also coveredboxing atChicago Stadium. In 1951, he published a book under the American-based sports magazine The Sporting News (nowSporting News, or TSN) entitled "So You Want to Run a Ball Club?".[1] He wrote the track and field section of the 1945Encyclopædia Britannica. He was the president of theWestern Golf Association.
Milt served underJoe Foss as the Assistant Commissioner from its inception in 1960 until 1966. Following theassassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, Woodard was instrumental in making the decision to postpone the week's American Football League games, while the National Football League continued with theirs. The AFL was praised for its choice by several prominent sportswriters of the time, such asRed Smith.[2]
After briefly serving under Commissioner Al Davis, Woodard was appointed President of the American Football League in July 1966.[3] The appointment came in the wake of the two leagues' agreement to merge, which had resulted in the transformation of the office of AFL Commissioner into that of a league presidency, which was to operate in a similar manner to the way the league presidencies ofMajor League Baseball operated at the time. After Davis refused to consider serving in such a role on the grounds it would be subordinate to the office of the NFL Commissioner, Woodard accepted the appointment in his place. He served until the merger was finalized in March 1970.[4] At the urging of All-Star AFL playerJack Kemp, Woodard had a commemorativeTen-year AFL shoulder patch produced for the1969 AFL ChampionKansas City Chiefs to wear when they played and defeated the NFL Champion Vikings in the fourth and finalAFL-NFL World Championship Game after the 1969 pro football season. In 1989, Woodard was inducted into the Washington Sports Hall of Fame.[5]
After his career in the AFL, he retired inLa Jolla, California, where he played golf at the La Jolla Country Club. He was married to three women over the course of his life. His first wife was Corrine Woodard. With his second wife, Nancy, he fathered two children, Ross and Linda. He then married his third wife, Frances. He died in San Jose, California.[6]