Randy Reutershan (born June 30, 1955) is a former American football player who performed in a single season in the National Football League (NFL) for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was a member of teams that won a college football national championship and Super Bowl XIII over the Dallas Cowboys.
No. 40 | |||||||
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Position: | Wide receiver / Return specialist / Defensive back | ||||||
Personal information | |||||||
Born: | (1955-06-30) June 30, 1955 (age 69) New York City, New York, U.S. | ||||||
Height: | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||
Weight: | 182 lb (83 kg) | ||||||
Career information | |||||||
High school: | Mahwah (Mahwah, New Jersey) | ||||||
College: | Pittsburgh | ||||||
NFL draft: | 1978 / Round: 6 / Pick: 160 | ||||||
Career history | |||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||
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Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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Player stats at PFR | |||||||
Reutershan was born in New York City to Warren and Doris Reutershan.[1] He attended Mahwah High SchoolinMahwah, New Jersey where he earned letters three years in football, basketball and track.[2]
Reutershan attended the University of Pittsburgh. In his junior season he was a wide receiver and special teams ace[2] on the Panthers team which won the national championship. He had 17 catches for 311 yards in his senior season at Pitt in 1977.[3] His tenacity as a special teams player, particularly his love of tackling on the coverage team, earned him the nickname "the Rat."[4] His college coach, Johnny Majors called Reutershan, "the most dynamic special teams performer I have ever seen."[5]
Reutershan was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the sixth round of the 1978 NFL Draft. He made the team as a defensive back after switching back and forth from wide receiver during training camp.[6] He played in eleven games in his rookie season, contributing primarily on special teams. His season was cut short in mid-November by a single vehicle roll-over automobile accident that left him with severe head injuries for which he was hospitalized for a full month.[2][7] Although he would eventually recover from his injuries, he was advised to discontinue his professional football career.[8]
Reutershan returned to his alma mater, Pittsburgh, as a wide receivers coach under Jackie Sherrill in 1979.[9]