Triple-threat man

In gridiron football, a triple-threat man is a player who excels at all three of the skills of running, passing, and kicking. In modern usage, such a player would be referred to as a utility player.

Triple-threat men were the norm in the early days of football, as substitution rules were stringent. Thus, in addition to the need for passing, running, and kicking skills, they were also required to play defense. As injury awareness grew and substitution rules loosened, teams shifted to kicking specialists, which made the triple-threat man obsolete. One of the last triple-threat men in professional football was George Blanda, a quarterback and kicker who last played for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League in 1975. Danny White, a quarterback and punter, retired in 1989. Since then, non-specialists have placekicked only extremely infrequently in the NFL. One instance occurred when Doug Flutie—also adept at both running and passing as a "scrambling" quarterback—drop kicked an extra point in 2006 during the last play of his career.Danny White of the Dallas Cowboys was the last non-specialist to kick on a regular basis, as he served as the team's starting quarterback and punter from 1980 until 1984, after several years as backup to Roger Staubach. There are, however, still dual-threat quarterbacks and wildcat halfbacks, who can both run and pass. A quarterback who played wide receiver in high school or college may sparingly catch passes or be converted into a wide receiver who occasionally passes.

For over forty years the NFL single-season scoring record was held by a triple-threat man, Green Bay Packers Hall of Famer Paul Hornung. Hornung set a record of 176 points in 1960 by scoring fifteen touchdowns, kicking forty-one extra points, and also kicking fifteen field goals. The record remained unbroken until 2006, when San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson scored 186 points. Unlike Hornung, who scored points three different ways, Tomlinson's points all came from touchdowns scored as he set an NFL record with 28 rushing touchdowns and 31 total.

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