Ron Gardin
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| Position: | Defensive back | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | September 25, 1944 New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died: | April 2025 (aged 80) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 180 lb (82 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Ansonia (CT) | ||||||||
| College: | Cameron Arizona | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1970: 6th round, 148th pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Ron Gardin (September 25, 1944 – April 2025) was a NFL professional American football defensive back and kick returner. He played in Super Bowl V for the Baltimore Colts.
College career
[edit]A standout four-sport athlete in at Ansonia High School in Connecticut,[1] Gardin enlisted in the army after graduating in 1962. After he was discharged, he played college football Cameron Junior College and then at the University of Arizona, where he led the team in receiving in 1968 with 892 yards and then in rushing in 1969 with 759 yards.[2]
Pro career
[edit]The 26-year-old Gardin was selected in the sixth round of the 1970 NFL draft by the Colts. The highlight of his rookie season was an 80-yard punt for a touchdown against the Miami Dolphins. Gardin returned punts in Baltimore's two playoff games and then in the Colts Super Bowl victory. His three fair catches in the Super Bowl were a record that stood until Super Bowl XXXV.[3] Gardin was also the first Arizon grad to play in the Super Bowl.[4]
The Colts traded Gardin to the New England Patriots early in the 1971 season for a 5th-round draft pick. In June of 1972 he was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but we was waived during training camp and then signed by the Miami Dolphins, but spent the season on the injured list. He signed with the Green Bay Packers in January 1973 but was released in May, ending his NFL career. [4]
Later career
[edit]After his professional football career ended, Gardin worked at a car dealership and as a Recreational Coordinator for the Marty Birdman Recreation Center in the Tucson Parks and Recreation Department. He was a past president of the NFL's Retired Players Association.[5]
Gardin died in an assisted living center in Phoenix in April 2025.[6]
Sources
[edit]- ^ "NEW HAVEN 200: Ansonia's Ron Gardin emerges as a top kick returner in the NFL".
- ^ "Standout Connecticut athlete and Super Bowl champ Ron Gardin dies at 80".
- ^ X; Instagram; Email; Facebook (January 27, 1993). "Super Bowl XXVII : THROUGH THE YEARS : Footnotes To History : V : RON GARDIN : BALTIMORE COLTS". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
{{cite web}}:|last2=has generic name (help) - ^ a b Bryan, Dave (June 2, 2024). "It's Been More Than 50 Years Since Steelers Traded For A Player In June". Steelers Depot. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
- ^ News Releases Arizona Super Bowl, March 13, 2007
- ^ Hansen, Greg (April 15, 2025). "Former Arizona football player Ron Gardin dies | Greg Hansen". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
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- 1944 births
- 2025 deaths
- Players of American football from New Haven, Connecticut
- American football defensive backs
- American football return specialists
- Arizona Wildcats football players
- Baltimore Colts players
- New England Patriots players
- 20th-century American sportsmen
- American football defensive back, 1940s birth stubs