Former NFL Player and Coach, Jack Pardee Passes Away

Former NFL player and coach, Jack Pardee has died of cancer at the age of 76, his family announced Monday.

Pardee, who was set to turn 77 on April 19th, was diagnosed with gallbladder cancer in November and was moved to a hospice facility in Denver to be near his family.

Pardee’s football career spanned five decades. The former All-American linebacker at Texas A&M, professionally was a two-time All-Pro with the LA Rams and Washington Redskins. Not to mention, he went on to become the only head coach to helm college football, NFL, United States Football League, World Football League and the Canadian Football League.

In a statement last Tuesday from his son, Ted Paradee, it was announced that Jack was in his final stages of his battle with cancer. Jack fought till the very end.

One side note – our family is setting up a scholarship at the University of Houston in dads name — the Jack Pardee Memorial Scholarship fund — and it is my dad’s wish for it to be established to help fund athletic scholarships to help kids who might not be able to pay for college on their own, but have shown the hard work and commitment to walk on in their given sport. Dad played 6-man football back in High School in the little west Texas town of Christoval, and it was his own hard work and dedication that allowed him to get a chance to play college football. Dad wants to help someone that is in the same situation — and we Pardee’s are going to make sure we do whatever we can to help his dream come true. So, when the time comes, instead of flowers or other gifts of condolence, we hope folks will send a donation (of any size) to the fund and join our family in keeping my dad’s dream alive. Our initial goal is $25K — they can’t fund any scholarships until we reach that threshold, and hopefully we will get there in short order. Dad has always had a big heart, he loved his tenure at UH just as he did the Gamblers (and was my coach there) and this is one way that our family really believes that his legacy will be one that lives on in the form of a deserving student athlete.

Please spread the word that THE ONLY scholarship that my father has been a part of setting up is the Jack Pardee Memorial Scholarship fund at The University of Houston. The unfortunate thing is that other organizations are trying to use my dads name to help them raise money, but his wishes are to support The Universities where his children and grand children have attended — and those are TCU and U of H. Dad wanted to create a scholarship to help a walk on athlete, and UH is a school that could really use his support.

The Gambler years were great times for me, as I was a ball boy and a high school kid at the time — and built many lasting friendships from those days. I had a great time walking the sidelines of the dome back then — when I met Steve Young at the game against the LA Express at home, meeting other great players — what an experience. Every year when Houston plays SMU, I spend time catching up with June Jones, and Albert Veytia (former assistant equipment man from the Gamblers). We had a great laugh telling stories about the Gambler reunion a couple of years ago — told the story where Albert was looking for me and my mom — and where did he find us, over at the bar getting Dad a beer! Ha… Funny stuff. It was great to see all the guys, and it was also great to see how much that time in our lives represented pride and excitement for so many.

God Bless,

Ted Pardee

In the National Football League, Pardee was the head football coach of the Chicago Bears from 1975 to 1977, the Washington Redskins from 1978 to 1980 and the Houston Oilers from 1990 to 1994. He led the Bears to the playoffs in 1977 and the Oilers to four straight playoff appearances while compiling a career record of 87-77.

In a statement from a team he coached and played for, Redskins’ owner Daniel Snyder had this to say: “In his time both on the field and on the sideline, Jack Pardee will forever be a part of the Washington Redskins’ legacy. He will be remembered not just as a linebacker for the 1972 NFC 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. My thoughts – and the thoughts and well wishes of the entire Washington Redskins family – are with the Pardee family this evening.”