Gary Beban

Infobox NFLretired


|caption=
width=
position=Quarterback
number=16
birthdate=birth date and age|1946|8|5
San Francisco, California
deathdate=
debutyear=1968
finalyear=1969
draftyear=1968
draftround=2
draftpick=30
college=UCLA
teams=
* Washington Redskins (1968-1969)
stat1label=TD-INT
stat1value=0-0
stat2label=Yards
stat2value=0
stat3label=QB Rating
stat3value=39.6
nfl=BEB276861
highlights=
* Heisman Trophy winner (1967)
* Maxwell Award (1967)
HOF=
CollegeHOF=60036

Gary Joseph Beban (born August 5, 1946 in Redwood City, California) is a former American football player. Son of an Italian-born mother and a first generation Croatian-American father, Beban won the 1967 Heisman Trophy [Prugh, Jeff - GARY BEBAN WINS HEISMAN TROPHY - BRUINS' BEBAN WINS HEISMAN TROPHY. Los Angeles Times, November 29, 1967. "Quote:It all began on an asphalt playground in San Francisco and it culminated Tuesday afternoon when UCLA's Gary Beban was voted winner of the 1967 Heisman Trophy, which is awarded annually by New York's Downtown Athletic Club to the nation's most outstanding college football player."] , the most prestigious award in college football, and the Maxwell Award, while playing quarterback for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins.

UCLA Bruins quarterback

Beban, known as "The Great One", excelled in both academics and athletics, majoring in European history while quarterbacking the Bruins across three straight victorious seasons. As UCLA quarterback, he was named to the all-conference team three times, and led the Bruins to a 24-5-2 record. His school record for total offense lasted 15 years. As a sophomore, he threw two touchdown passes in the last four minutes to rally the Bruins over crosstown arch-rival, USC, 20-16. [ [http://www.english.ucla.edu/ucla1960s/6465/Smith2.htm UCLA Athletics: 1964-1965] UCLA.edu] [ [http://www.lasports.org/lagreatest_moments/greatest2.php L.A.'s greatest moments 100 greatest] #35 1965: Bruin sophomore Gary Beban heaves fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Dick Witcher and Kurt Altenberg to stun USC and Heisman Trophy winner Mike Garrett, 20-16.] In the 1966 Rose Bowl, Beban scored both UCLA's touchdowns in the Bruin's 14-12 victory over #1 ranked Michigan State. [Al Wolf - Bruin Crowd Brimming With Joy...It's 'Everybody's Win'. Los Angeles Times - Los Angeles, California. January 2, 1966] [Larry Sharkey; Ben Olender; Joe Kennedy - Bruins Perform Surgery on Spartans' Line. Los Angeles Times - Los Angeles, California. January 2, 1966] [Bruins Won It Easily. Los Angeles Times - Los Angeles, California. January 2, 1966]

In his senior year, Beban played in the 1967 USC vs. UCLA football game, widely regarded as one of the best college football games of all time. The game pitted #4 AP/#2 UPI ranked USC and their Heisman Trophy-candidate running back O.J. Simpson, against the #1 Bruins and Beban -- also a Heisman Trophy candidate -- with both the AAWU and National championships, to say nothing of hometown bragging rights, on the line. Badly injured with bruised ribs and in great pain, Beban threw for over 300 yards and two touchdown passes to lead the Bruins in scoring. Though USC eventually won the game, 21-20, by the margin of a blocked PAT, and went on to the Rose Bowl, Gary Beban would go on to win the Heisman Trophy. Both Beban and Simpson were featured on the cover of the November 20 issue of "Sports Illustrated" magazine [ [http://dynamic.si.cnn.com/si_online/covers/issues/1967/1120.html USC VS. UCLA: SHOWDOWN IN L.A. - Sports Illustrated November 20, 1967 (Cover)] ] [Article:The Great One Confronts O.J. Sports Illustrated, November 20, 1967, Volume 27, Issue 21] . Commenting on Beban's heroic effort playing through injury, Famed L.A. Times columnist Jim Murray wrote that if "Gary Beban wins the Heisman Trophy, they ought to fill it with aspirin" [Murray, Jim - The REAL Gary Beban. Los Angeles Times, November 28, 1967]

In addition to the '67 Heisman, Beban was unanimously named to the All-American Team, won the Maxwell Trophy (given annually to the college football player judged best in the United States by a committee of college head coaches, sportscasters, sportswriters, and members of the Maxwell Football Club), and was awarded the Washington Touchdown Club Trophy. Beban was also named a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete, and received the Dolly Cohen award, given to the player best combining academic and football achievement.

In 1991, Beban was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame.

Though the UCLA football program has turned out dozens of highly successful NFL players through the years, Gary Beban was — and still remains — the only Bruin to win the Heisman.

NFL career

After graduating from UCLA, Beban played in the NFL for the Washington Redskins in 1968 and 1969 -- but, sitting behind veteran quarterback and future NFL Hall-of-Famer Sonny Jurgensen, Beban was not given much game time, and the professional stardom portended by his college career was not forthcoming. In 1970, Gary Beban retired from professional football.

Post-NFL career

In 1971, Beban joined the Los Angeles office of CB Richard Ellis, a global real estate services company. Beginning in 1975, he worked to establish offices in the Chicago area. Beban was named president and general manager of the company in 1985, and in 1998 became senior executive managing director of the company's Global Corporate Services unit.

In 2007, Beban participated in the national UCLA alumni commercial entitled "My Big UCLA Moment." The UCLA commercial is featured on YouTube.

External links

* [http://www.english.ucla.edu/ucla1960s/6667/afootball.htm UCLA in the 1960s: 1966-1967 Football]
* [http://archive.sportingnews.com/features/wherearethey/beban/ The Sporting News: Where Have You Gone? - Beban applies lessons learned to corporate sector (Gary Beban)]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjZjn8D16Ls Gary Beban: My Big UCLA Moment]

References