V. Switzer, who left NFL for military, dies at 89

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Veryl Switzer, the trailblazing former Inexperienced Bay Packers halfback who traded a profession within the NFL for service as a lieutenant within the Air Power, died Saturday. He was 89.

Earlier than his skilled profession, Switzer starred on the gridiron and in observe and area at Kansas State earlier than returning as an administrator. Citing his household, the college introduced his demise in a press release Sunday. Further particulars weren’t supplied.

“Veryl was probably the most influential and impactful Okay-Staters in our lifetime and helped pave the best way for thus many others to observe in his footsteps,” Wildcats athletic director Gene Taylor stated of the primary Black scholarship participant to graduate from the land-grant establishment. “He will probably be eternally bear in mind as a real trailblazer.”

Switzer was an All-American for the Wildcats for 3 straight seasons, main the crew in speeding in 1952 and 1953, and was chosen fourth total by the Packers within the 1954 NFL draft.

Switzer led the NFL in punt return common throughout his rookie season, then stepped away from the NFL after 24 video games for a stint within the navy. He served within the Air Power from 1956 to ’58 earlier than spending two extra years enjoying soccer in Canada.

Switzer spent a decade working on the Chicago Board of Schooling earlier than returning to Kansas State, the place he developed the college’s first university-wide pupil minority program. Many packages that exist in the present day have been started by Switzer, similar to Ebony Theater, United Black Voices, Hispanic advocacy teams and Black Scholar Union.

Switzer, who earned his grasp’s in training from Kansas State in 1974, was a constitution member of the college’s athletics corridor of fame in 1990. He was positioned within the college’s soccer ring of honor in 2002.