Karl Sweetan

American football player (1942–2000)

Karl SweetanNo. 14, 10

Born:| (1942-10-02)October 2, 1942
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Died:| July 2, 2000(2000-07-02) (aged 57)
Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Career information
Position(s)| Quarterback
Height| 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight| 203 lb (92 kg)
College| Wake Forest
NFL draft| 1965, Round: 18, Pick: 249
Drafted by| Detroit Lions
Career history
As player
1966–1967| Detroit Lions
1968| New Orleans Saints
1969–1970| Los Angeles Rams
Career highlights and awards

NFL record

* Longest touchdown pass: 99 yards (tied)

Karl Robert Sweetan (October 2, 1942 – July 2, 2000) was a professional American football quarterback. He played five seasons in the National Football League (NFL), from 1966 to 1970, for three teams.

## Early life

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Sweetan grew up in Dallas and graduated from South Oak Cliff High School in 1961.

## College career

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Sweetan played football at Navarro Junior College and Texas A&M before transferring to Wake Forest.

Sweetan was Wake Forest's starting quarterback in 1963, his senior year. He completed 79 of 218 passes for 674 yards, throwing one touchdown and 18 interceptions. His 218 pass attempts were the second highest in the conference, and fifth highest in the country.[1]

## Professional football

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Undrafted by the National Football League out of college, Sweetan played quarterback and defensive back for the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts during the 1964 season. In the 1965 NFL draft, he was an 18th round draft choice of the Detroit Lions.

During his first season, in 1966, he replaced an injured Milt Plum in an October 16 game against the Baltimore Colts. In that game, Sweetan threw a 99-yard pass to Pat Studstill that will always be an NFL record for longest pass completion. Sweetan was the second NFL quarterback to accomplish the feat; as of 2021, a total of 12 NFL quarterbacks have thrown a 99-yard pass, with the most recent being Eli Manning in 2011.[2]

Sweetan played himself in the 1967 movie, Paper Lion, which starred Alan Alda as an amateur participating at quarterback during the Lions preseason (based on an actual experience by the writer George Plimpton).[3]

Sweetan gained a different kind of notoriety when it was alleged that he tried to sell an NFL football playbook to another team; however, the charge was not proven.[4]

## Personal

[edit]

Sweetan spent the last 27 years of his life in Las Vegas, where he worked for a series of casinos; his last job was as a baccarat dealer at the Las Vegas Hilton. He was survived by four daughters and a son.[5]

According to a 1966 article in the Detroit Jewish News, Sweetan said he was Jewish.[6]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Karl Sweetan". Retrieved July 10, 2021.
2. ^ "Karl Sweetan Stats - Pro-Football-Reference.com". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
3. ^ Karl Sweetan - The Internet Movie Database.
4. ^ "Maule, Tex. "Would You Buy A Used Playbook From This Man?" Sports Illustrated, July 24, 1972". Archived from the original on December 3, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2009.
5. ^ NFL quarterback, longtime LV resident Karl Sweetan dies at 57;Las Vegas Sun
6. ^ Jewish Indians in sports arenas; Detroit Jewish News

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Wake Forest Demon Deacons starting quarterbacks

* W. C. Dowd (1888)
* Carroll Blackerby (1948–1949)
* Ed Kissell (1950–1951)
* Sonny George (1952)
* Joe White (1953)
* Nick Consoles (1954–1955)
* Charlie Carpenter (1956)
* Jim Dalrymple (1957)
* Norm Snead (1958–1960)
* Chuck Reiley (1961)
* John Mackovic (1962–1964)
* Karl Sweetan (1963)
* Jon Wilson (1965)
* Ken Erickson (1966)
* Freddie Summers (1967–1968)
* Larry Russell (1969–1971)
* Andy Carlton (1972–1973)
* Mike McGlamry (1974–1977)
* Jerry McManus (1975)
* David Webber (1978)
* Jay Venuto (1979–1980)
* Gary Schofield (1981–1983)
* Foy White (1984–1985)
* Mike Elkins (1986–1988)
* Phil Barnhill (1989–1990)
* Keith West (1991–1992)
* Jimmy Kemp (1993)
* Rusty LaRue (1994–1995)
* Brian Kuklick (1996–1998)
* Ben Sankey (1999)
* C.J. Leak (2000)
* Anthony Young (2000–2001)
* James MacPherson (2000–2002)
* Cory Randolph (2003–2005)
* Ben Mauk (2004–2006)
* Riley Skinner (2006–2009)
* Brett Hodges (2007)
* Ted Stachitas (2010)
* Tanner Price (2010–2013)
* John Wolford (2014–2017)
* Kendall Hinton (2015–2017)
* Kyle Kearns (2016)
* Sam Hartman (2018–2022)
* Jamie Newman (2018–2019)
* Mitch Griffis (2022–2023)
* Santino Marucci (2023)
* Michael Kern (2023–2024)

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Detroit Lions 1965 NFL draft selections

* Tom Nowatzke
* Jerry Rush
* Fred Biletnikoff
* Tom Myers
* Tom Vaughn
* Ed Flanagan
* John Flynn
* Earl Hawkins
* Greg Kent
* Bob Kowalkowski
* Larry Harbin
* Bruce McLenna
* Frank Pennie
* Jim Kearney
* Jim Moore
* Jack Jacobson
* Larry Brown
* Wallace Dickey
* John Smith
* Sonny Odom
* Karl Sweetan
* Preston Love
* George Wilson

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Detroit Lions starting quarterbacks

Formerly the Portsmouth Spartans (1930–1933)

* Chuck Bennett (1930)
* Glenn Presnell (1931–1933)
* Dutch Clark (1932–1937)
* Vern Huffman (1938)
* Dwight Sloan (1939)
* Byron White (1940–1941)
* Harry Hopp (1942)
* Frank Sinkwich (1943–1944)
* Chuck Fenenbock (1945)
* Dave Ryan (1946)
* Clyde LeForce (1947–1949)
* Fred Enke (1948–1949)
* Frank Tripucka (1949)
* Bobby Layne (1950–1958)
* Jim Hardy (1952)
* Tom Dublinski (1953–1954)
* Harry Gilmer (1955)
* Tobin Rote (1957–1959)
* Earl Morrall (1959–1961, 1963–1964)
* Jim Ninowski (1960–1961)
* Milt Plum (1962–1967)
* George Izo (1965)
* Karl Sweetan (1966–1967)
* Bill Munson (1968–1970, 1973–1975)
* Greg Landry (1968–1978)
* Joe Reed (1975–1977, 1979)
* Gary Danielson (1977–1978, 1980–1982, 1984)
* Jeff Komlo (1979, 1981)
* Eric Hipple (1981–1986, 1989)
* John Witkowski (1984)
* Joe Ferguson (1985–1986)
* Chuck Long (1986–1988)
* Todd Hons (1987)
* Rusty Hilger (1988)
* Bob Gagliano (1989–1990)
* Rodney Peete (1989–1993)
* Andre Ware (1990, 1992–1993)
* Erik Kramer (1991–1993)
* Dave Krieg (1994)
* Scott Mitchell (1994–1998)
* Don Majkowski (1996)
* Charlie Batch (1998–2001)
* Frank Reich (1998)
* Gus Frerotte (1999)
* Stoney Case (2000)
* Ty Detmer (2001)
* Mike McMahon (2001–2002)
* Joey Harrington (2002–2005)
* Jeff Garcia (2005)
* Jon Kitna (2006–2008)
* Dan Orlovsky (2008)
* Daunte Culpepper (2008–2009)
* Matthew Stafford (2009–2020)
* Drew Stanton (2009–2010)
* Shaun Hill (2010)
* Jeff Driskel (2019)
* David Blough (2019)
* Jared Goff (2021–present)
* Tim Boyle (2021)

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New Orleans Saints starting quarterbacks

* Gary Cuozzo (1967)
* Billy Kilmer (1967–1970)
* Karl Sweetan (1968)
* Ronnie Lee South (1968)
* Edd Hargett (1970–1971)
* Archie Manning (1971–1975, 1977–1981)
* Bobby Scott (1973–1974, 1976–1977, 1981)
* Larry Cipa (1974–1975)
* Bobby Douglass (1976–1977)
* Dave Wilson (1981, 1983–1986)
* Ken Stabler (1982–1983)
* Guido Merkens (1982)
* Richard Todd (1984)
* Bobby Hebert (1985–1989, 1991–1992)
* John Fourcade (1987, 1989–1990)
* Steve Walsh (1990–1991, 1993)
* Wade Wilson (1993)
* Mike Buck (1993)
* Jim Everett (1994–1996)
* Doug Nussmeier (1996–1997)
* Heath Shuler (1997)
* Billy Joe Hobert (1997–1999)
* Danny Wuerffel (1997–1998)
* Kerry Collins (1998)
* Billy Joe Tolliver (1998–1999)
* Jake Delhomme (1999)
* Jeff Blake (2000)
* Aaron Brooks (2000–2005)
* Todd Bouman (2005)
* Drew Brees (2006–2020)
* Mark Brunell (2009)
* Luke McCown (2015)
* Teddy Bridgewater (2018–2019)
* Taysom Hill (2020–2021)
* Jameis Winston (2021–2022)
* Trevor Siemian (2021)
* Ian Book (2021)
* Andy Dalton (2022)
* Derek Carr (2023–present)

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