Bill Austin

William Lee Austin (October 18, 1928 – May 22, 2013) was an American football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). He played as a lineman for the New York Giants for seven seasons and was the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers (1966–1968) and the Washington Redskins in 1970.

Early years

Born in San Pedro, California, Austin was raised in Oregon and graduated from Woodburn High School, south of Portland. He played college football at Oregon State College in Corvallis, earning All-Coast honors as a tackle in 1948 and played in the 1949 East-West Shrine Game. He was inducted into the OSU Athletics Hall of Fame and was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity.

Playing career

Selected in the thirteenth round of the 1949 NFL draft, Austin played seven seasons with the Giants, including the 1956 title year. He missed the 1951 and 1952 seasons due to military service in the U.S. Army, stationed in San Francisco and Tokyo. He made the Pro Bowl in 1954 and retired after the 1957 season.

Bill Austin (American football)

Bill Austin is a former American football player. He played as a back for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team from 1956 to 1958 and was selected by the Associated Press as a first-team player on the 1958 College Football All-America Team. He finished sixth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy in 1956, and he rushed for 2,073 yards and scored 204 points during his college football career at Rutgers.

A resident of Camarillo, California who spent most of his professional career as an executive of a number of bicycle manufacturers, Austin grew up in Fanwood, New Jersey and played football at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, graduating in 1955.

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