Rick Casares facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Rick Casares

Casares in 1953
No. 35
Position:	Fullback
Personal information
Born:	(1931-07-04)July 4, 1931 Tampa, Florida, U.S.
Died:	September 13, 2013(2013-09-13) (aged 82) Tampa, Florida, U.S.
Height:	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:	226 lb (103 kg)
Career information
High school:	Thomas Jefferson (Tampa, Florida)
College:	Florida (1951–1953)
NFL Draft:	1954 / Round: 2 / Pick: 18
Career history
Chicago Bears (1955–1964) Washington Redskins (1965) Miami Dolphins (1966)
Career highlights and awards
NFL champion (1963) First-team All-Pro (1956) Second-team All-Pro (1957) 5× Pro Bowl (1955–1959) NFL rushing yards leader (1956) NFL rushing touchdowns leader (1956) 100 greatest Bears of All-Time Second-team All-SEC (1952) University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame Florida–Georgia Hall of Fame
Career NFL statistics
Games played: 130 Rushing attempts: 1,431 Rushing yards: 5,797 Receptions: 191 Receiving yards: 1,588 Total touchdowns: 60
Player stats at PFR

Richard "Rick" Jose Casares (born July 4, 1931 – died September 13, 2013) was a famous American football player. He played as a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). Rick played for twelve seasons during the 1950s and 1960s.

Casares played college football for the University of Florida. There, he was a top fullback and also a kicker. Later, he played professionally for the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins in the NFL. He was also part of the new Miami Dolphins team in the AFL.

Rick's Early Life

Rick Casares was born in Tampa, Florida, in 1931. When he was 7 years old, his father passed away. His mother then sent him to live with his aunt and uncle in Paterson, New Jersey.

At age 15, Casares became a Golden Gloves boxing champion. He won in the 160-pound weight class. He was offered a professional boxing contract, but his mother did not allow it. So, he moved back to Tampa.

High School Sports

From age 15, Casares lived in West Tampa with his mother. He went to Thomas Jefferson High School in Tampa. His teachers helped him get into high school sports. This helped him stay in school.

The coaches at Jefferson High found Rick when he was a freshman. He was 190 pounds and six feet, one inch tall. He picked up a javelin for the first time and threw it far. Casares played high school football, basketball, and baseball for the Jefferson Dragons. He was also a track and field athlete.

He was an all-state player in both football and basketball. His football team, the Dragons, won the city championship in 1948 and 1949.

The Tampa Tribune newspaper named Casares one of the Tampa Bay area's 100 greatest athletes of the last century in 1999. In 2007, the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) honored him. They named him one of the 33 greatest Florida high school football players of the last 100 years. He was part of their "All-Century Team."

College Football Career

After high school, Rick Casares received a sports scholarship. He went to the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. He played fullback for coach Bob Woodruff's Florida Gators football team. He played from 1951 to 1953.

Casares quickly became the top runner for the Gators. In 1952, as a sophomore, he was 210 pounds and six feet, two inches tall. He scored the first touchdown in the Gators' first-ever bowl game. This was a 14–13 win over the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in the January 1, 1953 Gator Bowl.

He was chosen for the second-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) and received an honorable mention as an All-American. In 1953, he was a team captain. Coach Woodruff said Casares was the Gators' best back. He was also one of their top three kickers in the 1950s.

College Basketball

Casares also played for coach John Mauer's Florida Gators basketball team. As a sophomore in 1951–52, he led the team in scoring and rebounding. He averaged 14.9 points and 11.3 rebounds. As a junior in 1952–53, he averaged 15.5 points and 11.5 rebounds.

In basketball, he was a third-team All-SEC player in 1952. As basketball team captain in 1953, he earned second-team All-SEC honors.

Rick's college career ended early. He was drafted into the U.S. Army after his junior year. He was later added to the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame. He was recognized as a "Gator Great." In 2006, The Gainesville Sun newspaper named him No. 37 among the top 100 players in the first 100 years of Florida Gators football.

Professional Football Career

The Chicago Bears picked Casares in the second round of the 1954 NFL Draft. He was the eighteenth pick overall. He was offered a $20,000 yearly contract by the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts. But he chose to accept George Halas's $10,000 offer to join the Chicago Bears.

After finishing his military service, he played for the Bears from 1955 to 1964. In his fourth game of the 1955 season, against the Baltimore Colts, he ran for an 81-yard touchdown. He finished his first season with 672 yards in 12 games. This earned him a spot in the Pro Bowl.

Leading the Bears

Casares led the Chicago Bears in rushing from 1955 through 1960. In 1956, Casares led the entire NFL in rushing. He had 235 carries for 1,126 yards. At that time, this was the second-highest number of yards gained in a single NFL season. He was only 20 yards short of the NFL record.

Thanks to Casares' strong running, the Bears reached the 1956 NFL Championship Game. However, the New York Giants stopped Casares and defeated the Bears 47–7. He did, however, win an NFL Championship as a member of the 1963 team.

In the 1957 season, Casares again led the NFL in rushing attempts with 204. His 700 yards were later passed by Jim Brown's 942 yards. After ten seasons with Chicago, Casares was the Bears' all-time leading rusher. He had 1,386 carries, 5,657 yards, and forty-nine rushing touchdowns.

His Chicago Bears rushing records were not broken until Walter Payton surpassed them in the 1970s and 1980s. Casares is still the fourth all-time leading rusher in Bears history. He is behind Payton (16,726 yards), Matt Forte (8,602), and Neal Anderson (6,166 yards). He is ahead of Gale Sayers (4,956 yards).

"He was the toughest guy I ever played with," Mike Ditka, a former Bears tight end and coach, told The Tampa Tribune. "I remember him playing on a broken ankle."

Later Career

Casares finished his professional career with the NFL's Washington Redskins in 1965. In 1966, he played with the AFL's Miami Dolphins. He had limited playing time in his last two seasons.

In 2015, the Professional Football Researchers Association honored Casares. They named him to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2015.

Life After Football

After his football career, Casares moved back to his hometown of Tampa, Florida. He had also worked on some business projects in Chicago. His last job was in home improvement, focusing on adding rooms to houses.

Rick Casares passed away on September 13, 2013, at the age of 82. He had been ill with heart disease and shoulder problems from his football days. As a veteran of the U.S. Army, Casares was buried in the Sarasota National Cemetery.

NFL Career Statistics

Regular Season

Postseason

See Also

• Florida Gators football, 1950–59
• History of the Chicago Bears
• List of American Football League players
• List of Chicago Bears players
• List of Florida Gators in the NFL Draft
• List of Miami Dolphins players
• List of Washington Redskins players
• List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members