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Bill Cappleman

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Bill Cappleman
refer to caption
Cappleman on the cover of Florida State's 1969 media guide
No. 17
Position:Quarterback
Personal information
Born: (1947-03-12) March 12, 1947 (age 77)
Brooksville, Florida, U.S.
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High school:Dunedin (Dunedin, Florida)
College:Florida State
NFL draft:1970 / round: 2 / pick: 51
Career history
Career NFL statistics
TD–INT:0–1
Passing yards:82
Stats at Pro Football Reference Edit this at Wikidata

George William Cappleman (born March 12, 1947) is a former American football player. He played from 1967 to 1969 as a quarterback for the Florida State Seminoles football team, serving as the starting quarterback in his final two seasons. In both of his starting seasons, he was named to the All-South Independent football team. Following his college football career, he was selected in the second round of the 1970 NFL draft by the Minnesota Vikings, serving as a backup quarterback in the 1970 season. After playing in one game for the team, he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles, for whom he did not play, and eventually to the Detroit Lions, where he played several games in the 1973 season. He was traded by the Lions in 1974, played in the World Football League, and was signed on as a quarterback to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976.

Early life

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Cappleman was born on March 12, 1947, in Brooksville, Florida.[1] He is a native of Dunedin, Florida,[2][3] and attended Dunedin High School.[1] While there, he played the quarterback position for the high school football team.[3] As a high school athlete, he visited Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, and was impressed by the pass-heavy, pro-style offense that head coach Bill Peterson had implemented with quarterback Steve Tensi and wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff.[3] As a result, he committed to playing college football there with the Florida State Seminoles football team.[3]

College career

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Cappleman attended Florida State University from 1966 to 1969,[3] playing at the quarterback position for the Seminoles football team in his last three years.[4][5][note 1] In the 1967 season, he was the third-string quarterback, behind starter Kim Hammond and backup Gary Pajcic.[7] Prior to the 1968 season, Cappleman was named the team's starting quarterback, beating out Pajcic for the spot.[7] During his last two seasons, "Cap", as he was nicknamed,[5] started 19 games.[2] He often worked with wide receiver Ron Sellers,[3] who set the college football record for receiving yards during his time at Florida State.[8]

In 1968, Cappleman broke the Florida State records for both passing yards and passing touchdowns, recording 2,410 yards and 25 touchdowns.[2] The previous records had been 1,991 yards and 15 touchdowns.[2] The Seminoles finished their regular season with 8 wins and 2 losses, as well as a berth in the 1968 Peach Bowl.[9] Cappleman served as the quarterback for the bowl game, which the Seminoles lost by a score of 31–27 to the LSU Tigers.[9] The following season, Cappleman threw 2,467 yards and recorded 14 passing touchdowns.[2] Cappleman finished his college career at Florida State with 4,904 passing yards and 39 touchdowns,[3] setting Florida State records for both.[2] Additionally, he set a school record for single game passing yards in a game against the 1969 Memphis State Tigers football team, throwing for 508 yards.[2] In 1970, Cappleman participated in the Senior Bowl and the North–South Shrine Game all-star games.[10]

College statistics

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Season Team Passing Rushing
Cmp Att Yds Pct TD Int Rtg Att Yds Avg TD
1967 Florida State 4 5 27 80.0 0 0 125.4 6 -5 -0.8 0
1968 Florida State 162 287 2,410 56.4 25 11 148.1 62 -68 -1.1 1
1969 Florida State 183 344 2,467 53.2 14 18 116.4 73 −332 −4.5 0
Career 349 636 4,904 54.9 39 29 130.8 141 -405 -2.9 1

Professional career

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Following his college career, Cappleman was selected in the second round of the 1970 NFL draft by the Minnesota Vikings as the 51st overall pick.[1][8] The Vikings traded Cappleman to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a fourth-round selection in the 1973 NFL draft, which they used to select quarterback Mike Wells of the Illinois Fighting Illini football team.[11] However, on September 29, 1971, the Detroit Lions acquired Cappleman from the Eagles as part of a deal that granted the Eagles a third-round pick in the 1972 NFL draft.[12] The Eagles subsequently used this pick to draft Tom Luken.[13] Cappleman saw play time for the Lions during the 1973 season, attempting 11 passes.[14] On August 17, 1974, Cappleman was traded by the Lions in exchange for quarterback Sam Wyche.[12] During all of his playing seasons with the Vikings and Lions, he was a backup quarterback, with sportswriter Skip Rozin describing his career as "frustrating".[15]

Following the Lions, he played in the nascent World Football League.[15] Prior to the 1976 season, Cappleman, who by this time was described by Rozin as a "journeyman" quarterback,[15] was signed by the newly formed Tampa Bay Buccaneers as one of three quarterbacks for the team, alongside Steve Spurrier and Jim Foote, with Spurrier getting the starting position.[16]

NFL career statistics

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Year Team Games Passing Rushing Sacked Fumbles
GP GS Record Cmp Att Pct Yds Y/A Y/G Lng TD Int Rtg Att Yds Y/A Lng TD Sck SckY Fum Lost
1970 MIN 1 0 — 4 7 57.1 49 7.0 49 26 0 0 78.9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1973 DET 7 0 — 5 11 45.5 33 3.0 4.7 8 0 1 14.6 1 -2 -2.0 -2 0 0 0 0 0
Career 8 0 — 9 18 50.0 82 4.6 10.3 26 0 1 39.6 1 -2 -2.0 -2 0 0 0 0 0

Awards and honors

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For the 1968 season, the Associated Press gave Cappleman an honorable mention for their 1968 College Football All-America Team.[2][5] Additionally, he was named to both the 1968 and 1969 All-South Independent football team.[5][17] In recognition of his performance during the Seminoles' 1968 game against the Houston Cougars, Sports Illustrated named Cappleman the "national back of the week".[5] Several of his wins are memorialized at the Florida State Football Sod Cemetery, including the 1968 wins against the Houston Cougars and the NC State Wolfpack and a 1969 win against the Miami Hurricanes.[3] In 1984, he was inducted into Florida State University's hall of fame in 1984.[2][5] In 2014, he participated in a "Sod Talk" at Sod Cemetery prior to that year's game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons where he reflected on his collegiate career.[3] In a 2020 article, the Tallahassee Democrat listed Cappleman as the third best Florida State player of the 1960s.[2]

Personal life

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Following his career with the Vikings and the Lions, Cappleman became involved in the magazine industry in South Florida.[15] As of 2018, he resides in Panama City, Florida.[4][18] He has a daughter who is an attorney.[18]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Freshman were barred from playing college football by the National Collegiate Athletic Association until the 1972 NCAA University Division football season.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Bill Cappleman". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Weiler, Curt (June 9, 2020). "Florida State countdown: The 10 best FSU football players from the 1960s". Tallahassee Democrat. Gannett. ISSN 0738-5153. OCLC 45245368. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Linafelt, Tim (October 4, 2014). "Former FSU QB Cappleman shares stories at Sod Cemetery". Tallahassee Democrat. Gannett. ISSN 0738-5153. OCLC 45245368. Archived from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Henry, Jim (December 16, 2018). "Bobby Bowden, others reflect on T.K. Wetherell's impact". Tallahassee Democrat. Gannett. ISSN 0738-5153. OCLC 45245368. Archived from the original on January 18, 2022. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Bill Cappleman Bio". Florida State University Athletics. June 17, 2014. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  6. ^ Jenkins, Dan (October 30, 1972). "A Locomotive for the Class of '76". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on October 13, 2023. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  7. ^ a b 1968 Florida State Seminoles football media guide. 1968. pp. 20, 33.
  8. ^ a b Henry, Jim (April 29, 2021) [April 28, 2021]. "Florida State's all-time NFL Draft picks, from Mike Sellers to Cam Akers". Tallahassee Democrat. Gannett. ISSN 0738-5153. OCLC 45245368. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Golden, Neal (2021). LSU Bowl Games: A Complete History. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. pp. 102–106. ISBN 978-1-4766-8311-9. OCLC 1311966871.
  10. ^ 1976 Florida State Seminoles football media guide. 1976. p. 64.
  11. ^ 2024 Minnesota Vikings media guide. 2024. p. 645.
  12. ^ a b 2024 Detroit Lions media guide. 2024. p. 434.
  13. ^ 2020 Philadelphia Eagles media guide. 2020.
  14. ^ "Lions quarterback breakdown: From Landry to Stafford". Detroit Free Press. Gannett. January 24, 2015. ISSN 1055-2758. OCLC 137343179. Archived from the original on August 11, 2022. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  15. ^ a b c d Rozin, Skip (1979). One Step from Glory: On the Fringe of Professional Sports. New York City: Simon & Schuster. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-671-23069-2. OCLC 4549438.
  16. ^ Chastain, Bill (2002). The Steve Spurrier Story: From Heisman to Head Ball Coach. Foreword by Tom McEwen. Lanham, Maryland: Taylor Trade Publishing. pp. 85–86. ISBN 978-1-4617-0340-2. OCLC 868916466.
  17. ^ "FSU's Cappleman on All-Star Team". Ocala Star-Banner. Associated Press. December 11, 1969. pp. 5B. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  18. ^ a b Schmadtke, Alan (October 25, 2018) [May 7, 2003]. "Familiar Name Gets FSU Case". Orlando Sentinel. Tribune Publishing. ISSN 0744-6055. OCLC 1084339260. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
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