George Amundson
George Arthur Amundson (born March 31, 1951) is a former American football running back in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Houston Oilers in the first round of the 1973 NFL Draft. He played college football at Iowa State, both at quarterback and running back.
 Amundson about to throw a football at Iowa State | |||||||||
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| Position: | Running back | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | March 31, 1951 Pendleton, Oregon | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 215 lb (98 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| College: | Iowa State | ||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1973 / Round: 1 / Pick: 14 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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He has been inducted into both the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame and Iowa State Hall of Fame.[1][2]
Early years
Amundson was born in Pendleton, Oregon but grew up in Aberdeen, South Dakota. At Aberdeen Central he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track & field. As a high schooler Amundson set the state record in shot put and discus, the latter of which he still holds.[3] In football he was selected to the Argus Leader all-state first team both as a linebacker and quarterback.[4][5][6]
College career
Amundson was recruited to Iowa State both as a track & field athlete and as a football player. He would ultimately become a seven time letter winner, four in track & field and three in football.
The football field is where Amundson truly excelled and gained most of his recognition. He was recruited as a quarterback but had to play tailback his junior season due to several injuries on the team.[4] He led the Cyclones to their first ever bowl berth in the 1971 Sun Bowl.[7] That season he rushed for a then-record 1,260 yards and 15 touchdowns. His senior season he was able to switch back to his natural position of quarterback where he became the first Cyclone to top 2,000 yards of total offense in a season.[2] His 2,387 yards set a Big Eight Conference mark and earned him Big Eight Player of the Year honors, beating out Nebraska's Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers.[8]
Professional career
At the conclusion of his collegiate career, Amundson was drafted by the Houston Oilers with the 14th overall pick in the 1973 NFL Draft.[10] He is the first and only first round NFL draft pick in Iowa State history.[1][11] Amundson would play the following two season with the Oilers and his final NFL season with the Philadelphia Eagles. His career stats are 74 rushes for 194 yards and four touchdowns, three of them coming in one game.[12]
References
- "George Amundson - South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame". www.sdshof.com.
- "George Amundson - Hall of Fame Class of 1998 - Iowa State Athletics". www.cyclones.com.
- Waltman, Scott (May 28, 2009). "Years after, twin brothers remember Amundson's record toss". Aberdeen News. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
- https://aberdeen.k12.sd.us/foundation/halloffame/2006/George_Amundson.pdf
- "Amundson Repeats On All-State Football Club". Argus-Leader. December 2, 1968. p. 15.
- "All-State Defensive 11 Has One Junior". Argus-Leader. December 4, 1967. p. 17.
- "LSU 33, Iowa State 15 - Recaps - Hyundai Sun Bowl - December 29, 2017 - El Paso, Texas". www.sunbowl.org.
- "1972 Big Eight Conference Year Summary - College Football at Sports-Reference.com". College Football at Sports-Reference.com.
- "George Amundson College Stats - College Football at Sports-Reference.com". College Football at Sports-Reference.com.
- "NFL.com Draft 2017 - NFL Draft History: Full Draft Year". NFL.com.
- Webber, Tim (April 24, 2019). "This chart shows every Iowa State player ever selected in the NFL Draft". Des Moines Register. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
- "George Amundson". NFL.com.