Gene Washington

Gene Alden Washington (born January 14, 1947) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions. He was raised in California, and attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School. He was a multi-talented quarterback, and led the team to a league championship in 1964. That year he was also shared in the Back of the Year award and was selected to the All-City team. He was also a forward on the school's championship basketball team.

Along with his athletic excellence, Washington also was an excellent student and a school leader.

As a rookie in 1969, he started all 14 games at wide receiver, with 51 receptions for 711 yards. He was third in the Associated Press (AP) rookie of the year voting, behind Calvin Hill and Larry Brown, and third in United Press International's (UPI) rookie of the year voting behind Hill and Joe Greene. He was selected to play in the Pro Bowl that year, and The Sporting News named him first-team All-Conference.

Washington had his best year in 1970. He caught 53 passes for a league leading 1,100 yards, averaging nearly 21 yards per reception. He also had 12 receiving touchdowns. He was selected to the Pro Bowl for a second consecutive year.

Washington had 46 receptions in both 1971 and 1972, averaging 19.2 and 20 yards per catch respectively. His 12 touchdown receptions in 1972 led the NFL. In 1971, the AP, UPI, Pro Football Weekly and Sporting News named him first-team All-Conference, and the NEA and Pro Football Writers named him second-team All-Pro. In 1972, the AP, Pro Football Writers, and Pro Football Weekly again named him first-team All-Pro, and the NEA named him second-team All-Pro.

As a rookie, Washington's 49ers were 4–8–2, but over the next three years they were 10–3–1, 9–5, and 8–5–1, winning three division titles and reaching the playoffs all three years. During Washington's remaining playing years in San Francisco (1973–77), however, the team did not make the playoffs again and had only one winning season.

NFL executive He was the director of football operations for the NFL from 1994 to 2009. Among other things, as part of his role in maintaining the integrity of the game, he was responsible for player fines and suspensions in the event of misconduct warranting those penalties. In his director role, Washington also served as the league's liaison to the NCAA, high schools and other entities involved in organized football; and he was in charge of studying league safety issues.

Legacy and honors In 2004, Washington was named as one of Sports Illustrated'''s "101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports." In 2008, he was in the inaugural class of the Long Beach Polytechnic Football Hall of Fame, and was in the inaugural class (2022) of the California High School Football Hall of Fame.

In 2015, the Professional Football Researchers Association named Washington to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2015.

Personal life Washington is a former board member of the National Park Foundation. He has two children, Daniel and Kelly.

He also served as a commentator for NBC's NFL coverage in the early 1980s and sports anchor at KABC-TV in the late 1980s. and a State Dinner for Ghanaian President John Kufuor.

Film and television Banacek episode "Let's Hear It for a Living Legend" (1972) as Clay Mills The Mod Squad episode "The Connection" (1972) The Black Six as Bubba Daniels Airport 1975 (1974) as himself, uncredited Lady Cocoa'' (1975) as Doug

NFL career statistics Legend Led the league Bold Career high

Regular season Year Team Games Receiving GP GS Rec Yds Avg Lng TD 1969 SF 14 14 51 711 13.9 52 3 1970 SF 13 13 53 1,100 20.8 79 12 1971 SF 14 14 46 884 19.2 71 4 1972 SF 14 14 46 918 20.0 62 12 1973 SF 13 13 37 606 16.4 58 2 1974 SF 14 14 29 615 21.2 58 6 1975 SF 14 14 44 735 16.7 68 9 1976 SF 14 14 33 457 13.8 55 6 1977 SF 14 14 32 638 19.9 47 5 1979 DET 16 13 14 192 13.7 29 1 Career 140 137 385 6,856 17.8 79 60