Jack Pardee, an NFL linebacker and head coach, died Monday at the age of 76.
The cause of death was gallbladder cancer, according to the University of Houston, where Pardee coached in the late 1980s. Pardee had retired to a farm in Gause, Texas, but had recently been moved to hospice care in a Denver suburb so he could be near family, said the Houston Chronicle.
"Today we mourn the passing of a great man who dedicated his life to the game of football and was a true gentleman in every sense of the word," said Mack Rhoades, the athletic director at the University of Houston. "It was not a coincidence that success followed coach and his teams wherever he worked, and the University of Houston program was blessed to have him lead our football program during some of our most exciting times."
Pardee was a fullback and linebacker at Texas A&M University and was named to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1986.
In Texas, with its football culture, and where he was considered to be an outstanding player, Pardee became a revered athletic figure.
He served as head coach of the 1989 University of Houston team that compiled statistics in the run-and-shoot offense behind the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Andre Ware. Pardee also went on to coach the NFL's Houston Oilers to four consecutive playoff appearances.
Pardee was recruited to play for Texas A&M University after an assistant coach saw him move through defenders in six-man football at his small high school in west-central Texas.
When Bear Bryant arrived at Texas A&M University in 1854, he wanted to create a team that could withstand anything, and took fewer than 100 hopeful players, Pardee among them. Pardee was among only 35 players to finish. The players endured brutal workouts in over 100 degrees with little water in Junction, Texas, which went on to suffer from droughts.
"Junction got a bad rap when we were there in the 1950s," said Pardee. "It's a really beautiful place."
Pardee stood at six feet two inches tall and 225 pounds, and played both offense and defense in three seasons under Bryant. He was among three captains on the 1956 team and was ranked five nationally in the Associated Press poll.
He went on to play as a linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams from 1957 to 1964 and 1966 to 1970, and ended his career with the Washington Redskins in the 1971 and 1972 seasons.
"In his time both on the field and on the sideline, Jack Pardee will forever be a part of the Washington Redskins' legacy," said owner Daniel Snyder in a statement. "He will be remembered not just as a linebacker for the 1972 N.F.C. Champions, nor as just the coach for our franchise.
"He will be remembered as someone whose spirit truly embodied the values that we associate with the burgundy and gold," he said.
Pardee then became head coach of the Chicago Bears from 1975 to 1977, making the playoffs. He then moved on to coach the Redskins, where the Associated Press named him NFL coach of the year. Pardee went on the become coach of the Oilers.
John Perry Pardee was born on April 19, 1936, in Exira, Iowa, and moved with his family to Christoval, Texas when he was a child so his father could receive treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.
"When my father was diagnosed back around Thanksgiving, we were able to have many great conversations about the past and future," his son Ted said in a statement.
He is survived by his wife, Phyllis, five children and 12 grandchildren, according to the University of Houston. The family has established a memorial scholarship fund in Pardee's name at the University of Houston.
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