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University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Mourn The Loss Charlie Sanders
7/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Former Minnesota Gopher great and Detroit Lions Hall of Famer Charlie Sanders passed away earlier today after a courageous battle with cancer. Sanders, who lettered at Minnesota as a tight end from 1966-67, was a member of the Lions organization for each of the last five decades. He was 68.
Sanders was inducted into the M Club Hall of Fame in 2013 and is also a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (2007), Michigan Sports Hall of fame (1990), his home state's North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame (1997) and the Guilford County (N.C.) Sports Hall of Fame (2005). In addition, Sanders was named to the Lions All-Time Team in 2008 and was one of the inaugural 12-member Pride of the Lions class in 2009 that includes a permanent display inside Ford Field.
Sanders, who also played basketball in college, was an All-Big Ten tight end for Minnesota and helped lead the Gophers to a 1967 Big Ten championship. During the season, which saw the Gophers go 8-2, Sanders caught 21 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns.
Sanders was drafted by the Lions in the third round of the 1968 NFL draft and would become a fixture - both on and off the field - with the organization.
He played his entire 10-year NFL career (1968-77) with the Lions, and recorded 336 receptions for 4,817 yards and 31 touchdowns. Sanders led the Lions or was a co-leader in receptions six times, and he registered 30 or more receptions seven times in addition to amassing at least 500 receiving yards in six different seasons. Sanders was selected to seven Pro Bowls, was a two-time All-Pro (1970-71) and was named to the NFL's All-Decade Team of the 1970s. In 1968, his rookie season, he was the only rookie that season selected to play in the Pro Bowl and he finished second to then-teammate Earl McCullough for NFL Rookie of the Year honors.
He remained with the Lions after his playing days were over and most recently served as the Lions Assistant Director of Pro Personnel. Sanders was affiliated with the Lions for 43 years, which is the most of anyone involved with the organization outside of long-time owner William Clay. While with the Lions, Sanders became a Hall of Fame tight end for the Lions (1968-77), served on coaching staffs (1989-96), scouted in the team's player personnel department (1998-2015) and called Lions games as a radio broadcaster (1983-88, 1997). During the past several years, while working in the player personnel department he also contributed to the team's preseason television broadcasts.
Beyond his direct role with the team, Sanders made significant contributions to the community through both the team's community relations programs and most recently through The Charlie Sanders Foundation and Have A Heart Save a Life program.
Sanders is survived by his ex-wife Georgianna and their children Mia, Charese, Mary Jo, Georgianna, Charlie Jr., Tallisa, Wayne and Jordan. He was preceded in death by their daughter Nathalie. He is also survived by daughter Angela and son Lee.
