Bob Carey (American football)

Bob Carey

Bob Carey (#89) in 1952 with Los Angeles Rams and NFL Hall of Fame teammates Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch (L) and Norm Van Brocklin (R).
No. 89, 88, 85
Position:	End
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1930-02-08)February 8, 1930
Date of death:	October 25, 1988(1988-10-25)
Career information
College:	Michigan State University
NFL Draft:	1952 / Round: 1 / Pick: 13
Career history
Los Angeles Rams (1952–1956) Chicago Bears (1958)
Career NFL statistics
Games played: 32 Receiving yards: 663 Touchdowns: 2

Robert Winfield Carey was an American football end in the National Football League. He was a first round pick (13th overall) by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1952 NFL Draft from Michigan State University. He played with the Rams from 1952 to 1956. He then played one season with the Chicago Bears in 1958.

Carey earned a total of nine varsity athletic letters at Michigan State, three each in football, basketball and track. In his era, freshman were not eligible for varsity competition. As Captain of the undefeated Spartan 1951 football team, he earned consensus first team All-America honors at end and was a member of the 1951 College Football All-America Team. Carey had also received All-American recognition in football by the Associated Press in 1950. In 2001 he was chosen as a member of Althon Sports Michigan State All Time Football Team. Carey was the 1951 Big Ten Conference Shot Put Champion. His third-place finish in the shot put at the 1951 NCAA Track & Field Championships placed him on National Collegiate Track Coaches All-American team. He was selected as a charter member of Michigan State's Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992.

Carey was also a three-year starter for the Michigan State basketball team playing for Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Pete Newell. Spartan football coach and College Football Hall of Fame member Biggie Munn called Carey, "the greatest all-around athlete I've ever seen or hope to see." As a senior at State, he won the Chester L. Brewer Award, awarded annually to a graduating senior for "distinguished performance in athletics and scholarship, and for possessing a high degree of character, personality, competitive spirit and other leadership qualities which forecast a successful future."

During the 1954 pro campaign while playing for the LA Rams, Carey suffered a severe knee injury which required reconstructive surgery. He spent the 1955 season serving as End Coach with eventual College Football Hall of Fame coach Dan Devine as a part of Devine's initial staff at Arizona State. The Sun Devils finished 8-2-1 for the season. Devine went on the Head Coaching positions at Missouri, the Green Bay Packers and at the University of Notre Dame where he won a national championship in 1977.