Paul Warfield

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Paul Warfield
Date of birth	November 28, 1942
Place of birth	Warren, OH
Position(s)	WR
College	Ohio State
NFL Draft	1964 / Round 1/ Pick 11
Pro Bowls	8
Honors	NFL 1970s All-Decade Team
Statistics	Pro Football Reference DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1964-1969 1970-1974 1975 1976-1977	Cleveland Browns Miami Dolphins Memphis Southmen (WFL) Cleveland Browns
Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1983

Paul Dryden Warfield (born November 28, 1942 in Warren, Ohio) was a professional American football wide receiver in the 1960s and 1970s.

[edit] Football career

He graduated from the Ohio State University and played for the Cleveland Browns from 1964 to 1969. He was traded to the Miami Dolphins, where he was a major factor in their championships in the early 1970s. Along with Dolphin teammates Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick, he spent one season with the Memphis Grizzlies of the World Football League before finishing his playing career in Cleveland again in 1976 and 1977. He was a frequent Pro Bowl (8 times) and All League (6 times) selection.

In his 13 NFL seasons, Warfield caught 427 passes for 8,565 yards, giving him an amazing 20.1 yards per catch average, and scored 85 touchdowns. He added another 204 yards on 22 rushing attempts.

In his rookie season 1964, he caught 52 receptions (his best season for receptions) for 920 yards and 9 touchdowns as his Browns won the NFL Championship.

In 1968, he caught 50 receptions and for the only time in his career, gained over 1,000 yards in receiving (1,067 yards) and scored 12 touchdowns as the Browns reached the NFL Championship for the third time in the 1960s.

For most of Warfield's tenure in Miami, the Dolphins ran an offense which stressed running the ball. Even so, Warfield was a major threat on any given play. For example, even though he only caught 28 passes during the 1973 NFL season, 11 of those receptions were touchdown catches, with four coming in the first half of the regular season finale. 3 years earlier when he arrived in Miami, he caught only 28 receptions but he averaged 25.1 yards per catch. Nonetheless, Warfield was used more as a potential threat during his time with the Dolphins, and probably could have posted better numbers with a more pass-oriented team.

[edit] Later years

He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983. In 1999, he was ranked number 60 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

He has been active as a scout and front office executive since his retirement as a player

Paul flipped the coin for the Ohio State-Michigan game in 2006. The #1 ranked Buckeyes beat the #2 ranked Wolverines 42-39 at The Horseshoe in Columbus, Ohio.