New York Jets: Throwback Thursday, George Sauer

Dec 14, 2014; Nashville, TN, USA; New York Jets logo prior to the game against the Tennessee Titans at LP Field. Mandatory Credit:

-USA TODAY Sports

Time for another edition of “Throwback Thursday”. This off-season, we have been going back into the annals of Jets history, talking about some of the great Jets, their football career, and how life has gone after football.

To date, we have looked back at Emerson Boozer, Don Maynard, and Wesley Walker. I too am a fan of offensive football players, so this week, I am going to look back at one myself.

Today, we are going to look at the wide receiver that played opposite the great Don Maynard. His name is George Sauer. Let’s go back and take a look at one of the Jets greatest.

Next: Jets career

Feb 2, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets former quarterback

before Super Bowl XLVIII between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

More from The Jet Press

• NY Jets should target TE Hunter Henry in free agency
• NY Jets: Why the team should target cornerback Shaquill Griffin
• NY Jets reportedly non-tendering linebacker Harvey Langi
• NY Jets: Why the team should not cut Jamison Crowder
• NY Jets should try to sign Kenny Golladay in free agency

George Sauer was born November 10, 1943 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. He played his college ball for Texas. He came to the Jets in 1965 spending his career with the team until his retirement in 1970. Here are Sauer’s career stats:

Receiving & Rushing

Sauer made his presence felt in Super Bowl III against the Baltimore Colts. In the Jets 16-7 win, Sauer caught eight passes for 133 yards.

George Sauer’s Jets career ended in 1970 upon his retirement. He finished with 309 receptions for 4,965 yards and 28 touchdowns.

But what Sauer had to say about football was just as important as anything he ever did on the field.

Next: Life After Football

Oct 26, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns tight end

(84) is looked at after suffering a concussion against the Oakland Raiders at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

George Sauer was a terrific football player, but Sauer never was comfortable playing football. We talk about the retired players having health problems after the game. We know that in the past, medical staff got someone barely well enough to play before sending them back onto the field. Well, George Sauer led that life, and wasn’t afraid to talk about it.

He called the sport “dehumanizing”. He described how “the structure of pro football generally works to deny human values” and criticized its “chauvinistic authority.” Sauer even went so far as to call playing football like being in jail. To get the idea of how Sauer felt, another receiver, Peter Gent, wrote a landmark book on the subject called “North Dallas Forty”, which later became a movie starring Nick Nolte. It depicts a life in the NFL that George Sauer echoed in his thoughts.

George Sauer returned to professional football in the brief experiment that was known as the World Football League.

After football, Sauer wrote, but never published. He wrote 12,000 words for Life magazine about quitting football, but the magazine never ran the manuscript. He suffered dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease, and died in May of 2013 from Congestive Heart Failure at the age of 69.

For a short time, he was a great football player. He got out, and is gone too soon. We remember legendary Jets wide receiver, #83, George Sauer.

Next: Jets Fans Weigh in on Darrelle Revis