Dave Meggyesy

Dave Meggyesy

Position(s) Linebacker Jersey #(s) 60
Born	November 1, 1941 (1941-11-01) (age 70) Cleveland, Ohio
Career information
Year(s)	1963–1969
NFL Draft	1963 / Round: 17 / Pick: 226
College	Syracuse University
Professional teams
St. Louis Cardinals (1963–1969)
Career stats
games played	82
high school coaching record	0–11
Stats at NFL.com
Stats at pro-football-reference.com
Stats at DatabaseFootball.com
Career highlights and awards
N/A

David Michael Meggyesy (born November 1, 1941, in Cleveland, Ohio) is a former American football player, author, and union organizer. He played college football at Syracuse University, and was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 17th round of the 1963 NFL Draft, where he was a linebacker for seven seasons.^[1] He became involved in civil rights and anti-war activities while with the Cardinals. After leaving the team, he wrote Out of Their League, a controversial memoir about his experiences in football. He later taught courses in the sociology of sports, coached high school football, and became a union representative for the National Football League Players Association.

Early life and education

Meggyesy was born in Cleveland, Ohio, where his father was a machinist and union organizer. When he was five his family moved to Glenwillow, Ohio, where, says Meggyesy, he "was, literally, raised on a pig farm next to a dynamite factory."^[2] At Solon High School, in Solon, Ohio, he played football and other sports. He then attended Syracuse University on an athletic scholarship.

During his early years in the NFL, Meggyesy was a graduate student in sociology at Washington University.^[2]

Post-NFL career

Meggyesy spent four months in 1970 at Jack Scott's Institute for the Study of Sport and Society in Oakland, California, where he wrote his bestselling memoir, Out of Their League.^[3] According to the San Jose Mercury News, the book was "the first critical look at the dehumanizing aspects of pro football." In 1973, Meggyesy was a co-founder of the Esalen Sports Center.^[4] After living in Colorado for several years, Meggesey's family returned to California. He began teaching courses at Stanford University, including Sports Consciousness and Social Change, and The Athlete and Society.

In 1980, while still teaching part-time at Stanford, he was hired as head football coach at Tamalpais High School, in Mill Valley, California. His son was one of three seniors on the varsity team, which had gone 2–8 the year before. In 1990, they were 0–11. Meggyesy later said, "We went 0-11, but it was a great experience to see them mature and gain confidence even when we were losing. High school football is football in its purest form. It struck me what a crucible for learning it was."^[1]

He was then hired by the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) as Western Regional Director. He retired in 2007.

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Remnick, David (October 5, 1987). "Still On The Outside". Sports Illustrated. http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1066525/2/index.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-10. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Zirin, David (2005). What's My Name, Fool?: Sports and Resistance in the United States. Haymarket Books. 
3. ^ "Jeremiah of Jock Liberation". Time. May 24, 1971. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,905113,00.html. Retrieved 2008-11-11. 
4. ^ "Esalen Initiatives: Sports Psychology". In the Air. Esalen Institute. http://www.esalen.org/air/esaleninitiatives2.shtml. Retrieved 2008-11-11. 

References

• Meggyesy, Dave (1970). Out of Their League (1st edition ed.). Berkeley, California: Ramparts Books. pp. 263. ISBN 9780671207762. 
• Meggyesy, Dave (October 1, 2005). Out of Their League. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, Bison Books. pp. 272 pages. ISBN 978-0803283145. OCLC 60664258. 
• Zirin, David (2005). "'We really just hate to lose': Unions and Sport". What's My Name, Fool?: Sports and Resistance in the United States. Haymarket Books. pp. 114–123. ISBN 9781931859202. http://books.google.com/books?id=ut3M85a6yTMC&pg=PA114&lpg=PA114&dq=%22David+Meggyesy%22+%22All-American%22+linebacker+Syracuse&source=bl&ots=qpDIqdmD5f&sig=UhVcw9ocludM1ehYxE7D8ys9QcA&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result. 
• Remnick, David (October 5, 1987). "Still On The Outside". Sports Illustrated. http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1066525/2/index.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-10. 

External links

• David Meggyesy, President, bio at Athletes United for Peace
• David Meggyesy contributor profile at Integral Life

Persondata
Name	Meggyesy, Dave
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	November 1, 1941
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death