Cal Poly alumnus Bobby Beathard was officially elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Feb. 3. He is the second Cal Poly alumnus to wear the gold jacket, joining legendary head coach of the Oakland Raiders John Madden, who was inducted in 2006.
Beathard played quarterback for the Mustangs in the late 1950s and threw for 1,748 yards, leading the team to 25 wins in 30 career games. After graduating from Cal Poly in 1959, he went on to have a long career as a personnel administrator in the National Football League (NFL), having stints with the Kansas City Chiefs (1966-67), Atlanta Falcons (1968-1971), Miami Dolphins (1972-77), Washington Redskins (1978-1988) and San Diego Chargers (1990-99).
Beathard helped lead his teams to a total of seven Super Bowl appearances and won four of them. In his first two seasons with the Miami Dolphins, the team won Super Bowl VII and VIII in which Beathard was a director of player personnel. As a general manager, he led the Washington Redskins to a Super Bowl XVII victory and did it again in Super Bowl XXII.
He also took the San Diego Chargers to their only Super Bowl appearance in franchise history in 1994. In total, Beathard won ten division titles on top of his four Super Bowl rings and was responsible for drafting Hall of Famers Junior Seau, Art Monk, Russ Grimm and Darrell Green.
Beathard will be officially inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame during the enshrinement ceremony Aug. 4 in Canton, Ohio.