RIP Bobby Beathard

Feb 1, 2023 - 9:00 PM

Bobby Beathard, former general manager for the Washington Redskins from 1978-88, has died at the age of 86. He was an instrumental person in the history of the Redskins, their Super Bowl history, and the legacy of former head coach Joe Gibbs. Beathard was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.

Beathard entered the NFL as an undrafted rookie who played college ball at Cal Poly, and exited as a Hall of Fame executive. Beathard started his front office career as a scout for the Kansas City Chiefs, and worked his way up to Director of Player Personnel for the Miami Dolphins. He joined the team when Don Shula’s Dolphins went undefeated during the 1972 season and went on to defeat the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII.

Bobby Beathard was hired as the Redskins GM in 1978, and helped build a team that won their first Super Bowl during the 1982 season. Washington would appear in two more Super Bowls with Beathard as the GM and went 1-1 during the big games. The Redskins lost to the Raiders the following year, but came back during Beathard’s last season with the team to beat the Broncos 42-10.

“We did it a little bit different than a lot of people. A lot of people in the league thought I was nuts. Maybe that was true, because I started trading away first-round draft picks and first-round draft picks were valuable…but we figured if it was a draft that we had evaluated…and it was rich in talent, we could get players in the later rounds.”

WATCH: Bobby Beathard’s Hall of Fame Induction Speech

Inducted as the third general manager into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018, Mr. Beathard was introduced by Gibbs, who was enshrined in the Hall 22 years before Mr. Beathard. “In the NFL, you’re measured by Super Bowls,” Gibbs said. “The bottom line was, if you hired Bobby Beathard, you got Super Bowls.”