Chuck Hughes - wikipedia Chuck Hughes For the admiral, see Charles Frederick Hughes. For the Canadian chef, see Chuck Hughes ( chef ). Chuck Hughes Hughes in 1971 No. 13, 85 Position : Wide Receiver Date of birth : ( 1943 - 03 - 02 ) March 2, 1943 Place of birth : Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Date of death : October 24, 1971 ( 1971 - 10 - 24 ) ( aged 28 ) Place of death : Detroit, Michigan Height : 5 ft 11 in ( 1.80 m ) Weight : 175 lb ( 79 kg ) Career information High school : Abilene ( TX ) College : Texas Western NFL Draft : 1967 / Round : 4 / Pick : 99 Career history Philadelphia Eagles ( 1967 -- 1969 ) Detroit Lions ( 1970 -- 1971 ) Career NFL statistics Player stats at NFL.com Player stats at PFR Charles Frederick `` Chuck '' Hughes ( March 2, 1943 -- October 24, 1971 ) was an American football player, a wide receiver in the National Football League from 1967 to 1971. He is, to date, the only NFL player to die on the field during a game. Contents 1 Early years 2 College career 3 Professional career 4 Death 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Early years Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Hughes moved with his family to Texas when he was young, along with his fourteen siblings. Hughes attended high school in Abilene at Abilene High School. College career Hughes played college football at Texas Western College, now the University of Texas at El Paso, where he is still listed in the all - time football records ; his accomplishments include : The most all - purpose yards in a single game, 401 in 1965 against North Texas State ( he is also second with 360 the same year against Arizona State ) The most yards per reception for a single game, 34.9, also in 1965 against North Texas -- this is also an NCAA record The most receptions in a single game, 17, also against Arizona State in 1965 Second in all - purpose yards for a season, with 2044 in 1966 First in all - purpose yards per game for a season, 204 in 1965 Second in all - purpose yards per game for his career with 132 Fifth in all - purpose yards all - time with 3,989 Second in career receiving touchdowns with 19 and yardage with 2,882 He was inducted into the UTEP Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006. Professional career Hughes was selected in the fourth round by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1967 NFL / AFL draft and played three seasons with the Eagles before he was traded to the Detroit Lions prior to the start of the 1970 season. Although listed as a wide receiver he saw most action on special teams, being a backup at wide receiver. In his five - year career he caught only 15 passes. Death During week six of the 1971 season on October 24, the Lions hosted the Chicago Bears at Tiger Stadium. Late in the game, with Detroit trailing 28 -- 23, the Lions were driving into Chicago territory and Hughes, who entered the game as an injury replacement, caught a pass from quarterback Greg Landry for thirty - two yards and a first down at the Bears ' 37 - yard line. Three plays later, Landry threw a pass that tight end Charlie Sanders dropped near the end zone. Hughes, a decoy on the play, began running back to the huddle with 1 : 02 showing on the clock. Suddenly, he dropped to the turf clutching his chest around the 20 - yard line. Hughes collapsed near Bears linebacker Dick Butkus, who saw him begin to convulse violently on the field. Butkus motioned to the sideline frantically to get Hughes assistance. Both teams ' doctors and trainers, along with a physician who happened to be attending the game, ran to Hughes to try and save him. An ambulance was called for and arrived to take Hughes to Henry Ford Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5 : 34 pm that afternoon. He was 28 years old. The game was played to its conclusion in front of a now - stunned silent crowd in Tiger Stadium, with the Bears ' lead holding. The Lions awaited word of Hughes ' condition after the game and the players were informed once word had broken that he was dead. A postmortem examination revealed that Hughes was suffering from undiagnosed and advanced arteriosclerosis ( one of his coronary arteries was 75 % blocked ) and that he had a family history of heart disease. The direct cause of death was a coronary thrombosis, which caused a massive myocardial infarction that cut off the blood flow to his heart. Hughes was buried in San Antonio, Texas, and all 40 of his Lions teammates attended his funeral, including head coach Joe Schmidt. He is survived by his widow, Sharon Leah, and his son, who was 1 year and 11 months old at the time, Brandon Shane. A $10,000 trust fund was set up for his son Brandon by an insurance company. His widow filed a $21.5 million malpractice lawsuit against Henry Ford Hospital in 1972 for not diagnosing his condition when he was hospitalized after complaining of chest pains. The lawsuit was settled on October 3, 1974 for an undisclosed amount of money. See also List of American football players who died during their career List of sportspeople who died during their career References Jump up ^ Add loss of Corey Smith to list of Lions ' tragedies http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/03/add_loss_of_corey_smith_to_lis.html ^ Jump up to : `` Hughes Collapses, Dies After Game ''. Herald - Journal. October 23, 1971. ^ Jump up to : `` Chuck Hughes Tragic Death Stuns Players, Fans ''. Sarasota Journal. October 25, 1971. ^ Jump up to : `` Lion Teammates At Hughes ' Rites ''. Victoria Advocate. October 28, 1971. Jump up ^ `` 2006 Inductees ''. UTEP Athletics. Retrieved 2010 - 03 - 21. Jump up ^ `` Shocking moments in NFL history ''. ESPN.com. Retrieved 2010 - 03 - 21. Jump up ^ `` Hughes Had Bad Arteries ''. Star - Banner. October 26, 1971. Jump up ^ `` Hughes Family Had History of Heart Trouble ''. Times - News. October 25, 1971. Jump up ^ `` Heart Disease Ran In Family ''. St. Petersburg Times. October 27, 1971. Jump up ^ `` Hughes Suit Is Settled ''. Argus - Press. October 4, 1974. External links Career statistics and player information from NFL.com Pro-Football - Reference Databasefootball.com Sports Reference -- collegiate statistics -- Chuck Hughes Chuck Hughes at Find a Grave Philadelphia Eagles 1967 NFL draft selections Harry Jones John Brooks Harry Wilson Chuck Hughes Bob Van Pelt Dick Absher Bob Hughes John Williams Bob Crenshaw Don Klacking Harold Stancell Maurice Bates Omar Parker Ben Monroe Bill Downs Dick Kenney David Poche Lynn Baker George Catavolos Detroit Lions retired numbers 7 Dutch Clark 20 Barry Sanders 22 Bobby Layne 37 Doak Walker 56 Joe Schmidt 85 Chuck Hughes Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chuck_Hughes&oldid=795642600 '' Categories : 1943 births 1971 deaths Players of American football from Pennsylvania Players of American football from Texas Sportspeople from Abilene, Texas American football wide receivers UTEP Miners football players Detroit Lions players Philadelphia Eagles players Sports deaths in Michigan Sportspeople from Philadelphia Hidden categories : NFL player missing current team parameter Infobox NFL biography articles missing alt text Find a Grave template with ID same as Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Français Italiano Edit links This page was last edited on 15 August 2017, at 15 : 20. 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Question: detroit lions player that died on the field
Answer: Charles Frederick "Chuck" Hughes