Ron Widby
| No. 12, 10, 20 | |||||||||||
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| Position: | Punter | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Date of birth: | March 9, 1945 | ||||||||||
| Place of birth: | Knoxville, Tennessee | ||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight: | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school: | Fulton (TN) | ||||||||||
| College: | Tennessee | ||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1967 / Round: 4 / Pick: 81 | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||||
| Punting yards: | 15,488 |
|---|---|
| Punts: | 368 |
| Punt Blocks: | 4 |
| Games played: | 81 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
George Ronald "Ron" Widby (born March 9, 1945) is a former American basketball and football player. Widby was the last four-sport letterman at the University of Tennessee to date, becoming an All-America in football and basketball and also earning one letter in both baseball and golf. In his two best sports he received All-America honors, as the nation's leading punter in college football and as a basketball wing.
From his childhood in Knoxville, Widby showed tremendous athletic promise. One retired Knoxville sportswriter, Marvin West, recalled for a 2011 story on Widby that "he was good for his age. Every step of the way in his career, he was smooth for his age." Widby himself would recall, "I grew up with the idea I was going to win a scholarship to the University of Tennessee." He did just that, signing with Tennessee after starring as a quarterback, safety, and punter at Fulton High School in Knoxville. However, near the end of his senior football season at Fulton, he broke his arm and shoulder. Widby recovered well enough to have a strong senior basketball season.
After arriving at his hometown university, Widby initially decided to concentrate on basketball due to his high school injury. Even though he did not attend spring or fall practice with the freshman football team—at the time, freshmen were not allowed to play NCAA varsity sports—the football team kept him on scholarship in hopes he would change his mind. As it turned out, the football coaching staff went to head basketball coach Ray Mears, telling him they needed a punter. Mears had no problem with Widby playing that position, and as Widby himself recalled in 2011, "I always enjoyed punting a football." He also played on the freshman team in another of his high school sports, baseball, hitting nearly .400.
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