George Atkinson (American football)
- George Atkinson (American football)
Infobox Pro Football player
Color=Black
fontcolor=Silver
Name=George Atkinson
status=Not Active
Jersey=43
Caption=Atkinson's 1972 Topps football card
DateOfBirth=birth date and age|1947|1|4
Birthplace=Savannah, Georgia
DateOfDeath=
Deathplace=
Height_ft=6
Height_in=0
Weight_lbs=180
Position=SS
College=Morris Brown
CommonDraftedYear=1968
CommonDraftedRound=7 / Pick 190
Career Highlights=Y
AFLAllStar=1968, 1969
ProBowls=
Awards=
Honors=
Retired #s=
Records=
Stats=y
DatabaseFootball=ATKINGEO02
PFR=
years=1968-1969
1970-1977
1979
teams=AFL Oakland Raiders
NFL Oakland Raiders
NFL Denver Broncos
CollegeHOF=
HOF=
HOFYear =
George "Butch" Henry Atkinson (born January 4, 1947 in Savannah, Georgia) is a former professional American football player. He played football collegiately at Morris Brown, where he was a defensive back and a kick returner and professionally in the American Football League and National Football League for the Oakland Raiders from 1968 to 1977. He was a member of the Raiders' Super Bowl XI championship team.
Atkinson set the Raiders' single-game record for punt return yardage in 1968, with 205 yards against Buffalo. He ranks fifth on the Raiders all-time interception list with 30.
In a regular-season game in 1976 vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Raiders' arch-rival, Atkinson hit an unsuspecting Lynn Swann in the back of the head with a forearm smash, even though the ball had not been thrown to Swann. The hit rendered Swann unconscious with a concussion. Atkinson had also hit Swann in a similar manner in the previous season's , which also gave Swann a concussion. After the second incident, Steeler's coach Chuck Noll referred to Atkinson as part of the "criminal element" in football. Atkinson subsequently filed a $2 million defamation lawsuit against Noll and the Steelers, which Atkinson lost.
Atkinson currently works as a Raiders broadcaster, doing the pre-game and post-game shows. He also hosts a television program called "Behind the Shield".
ee also
*Other American Football League players
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
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