Randy Beverly
Sport: Football
Born: April 3, 1944
Town: Wildwood
Randy Beverly was born April 3, 1944 in Wildwood. He was a good all-around athlete with explosive speed and a love of contact. Randy was the star of Wildwood High’s football and basketball teams. Playing running back for Dominic Mancia’s Warriors, he ran for over 3,000 yards and scored 52 touchdowns. Randy’s best sport may actually have been track. He was a great long jumper who won a state championship in the event in 1962.
The following fall he enrolled at Trinidad State College in Colorado, a school known for its football program. Frank Clarke of the Cowboys was its most notable graduate. Randy did well enough to earn a scholarship from Colorado State. He played defensive back and returned kicks for the Rams.
Randy graduated in 1967 but went undrafted . At 5’11” he didn’t project as a pro cornerback. However, in his final college game he scored 3 touchdowns and a scout form the New York Jets was in the stands. Randy was invited to training camp with the Jets. Coach Weeb Ewbank was not satisfied with his defensive backs. Randy was told that the only way he would make the team was if he beat out one of the starters. He did so and intercepted 4 passes that season.
Randy intercepted 4 passes again in 1968, returning one for a touchdown. Although undersized, he was adept at the bump-and-run that was legal at that time. The Jets went 11–3 and won the AFL title, setting up a showdown with the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.
On the Colts’ first possession, Earl Morral drove the length of the field, but at the 10 yard line his pass was deflected and Randy picked it off at the goal line. In the third quarter, with the game still up for grabs and Johnny Unitas now quarterbacking for Baltimore, Randy made his second interception, in the end zone.
Beverly played one more year with the Jets and then was trdaed to the San Diego Chargers. He was cut in camp but caught on with the Patriots. He played two more years in the NFL, and then resurfaced in 1974 with the New York Stars of the upstart World Football League.
Randy and his family moved to the town of Monroe, NJ in the 1990s and he has been a regular at Jets reunions ever since. His son, Randy Jr., is an accomplished video game designer who works on EA’s John Madden NFL Football.
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