Football alumni: where are they now?

By Rayna Jackson, BA ’04 (romance languages), UO Alumni Association director of communications;
and April Miller, assistant director of communications

Discover the paths that alumni have taken after their time playing football for the University of Oregon

Over the 128-year history of Oregon football, there have been thousands of alumni who have gone on to have careers beyond the gridiron.

Some went on to play in the NFL while others started their own businesses. Today, some are coaching the next generation of football players and others are giving back to their communities any way that they can using their talents, fame, and financial success to make an enduring legacy.

These are just a few of the men of Oregon who have left their mark off and on the field. This list does not include all alumni, but we give a shout out to all who have donned the green and yellow and have represented the Ducks.

Now, let’s see what a few football alumni have been up to since their days playing in Autzen.

Photo credit: Josh Bidwell LinkedIn

Josh Bidwell BA, ’98 (English)

Former NFL punter, UO football team chaplain, founder of the Josh Bidwell Foundation

Josh Bidwell came to the University of Oregon in 1994 from his hometown of Winston, Oregon, just outside of Roseburg. By the time he graduated in 1998, he was one of the best punters in the nation.

Bidwell was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in 1999 as the team’s fourth-round pick. At 23 years old, he felt on top of the world after learning he’d be the starting punter that season. Less than 72 hours later, Bidwell was diagnosed with testicular cancer, and everything changed.

“When two days before, your dream came true and two days later, your life is hanging in the balance, I honestly couldn’t describe that whirlwind,” Bidwell told Wayne Larrivee of Packer Nation United.

Though the prognosis was bleak, Bidwell beat the odds and entered remission after four months of treatment. Within a year, he had regained strength and earned back his starting position with the Packers.

Bidwell went on to play 12 seasons in the NFL, with stints at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington Redskins, along with Green Bay. In 2005, he was selected to the Pro Bowl.

Today, Bidwell is active in the Lane and Douglas County, Oregon communities. He stays busy running his foundation and serving as the chaplain for the Ducks football team.

The Josh Bidwell Foundation helps patients receiving treatment at a Roseburg cancer clinic and supports youth programs. The organization has raised more than $435,000 since its founding in 2006.

Bidwell’s full-time volunteer role managing the Oregon Football Chaplaincy Program is one that allows him to give back to the UO football community through mentorship and to share his Christian faith. In a presentation to the Eugene Southtowne Rotary Club, Bidwell shared that he feels his job is to help people realize they can make it through huge obstacles.

Photo credit: Rudy Bryan Facebook

Rudy Bryan, BS ’79 (public affairs)

Environment, health, and safety manager — aerospace

Rudy Bryan is a member of the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe. Born in Needles, California, but raised in Barstow, California, he came to Oregon after being recruited as a defensive lineman.

“I took a recruiting trip in March of 1974 but was not offered a scholarship,” Bryan shared with the UOAA. “I really enjoyed my visit because of the people I met and the beautiful green scenery. It was pretty amazing to see so many trees for a desert boy. My parents and I decided that I would try to go to school there and go out for the football team as a walk-on.”

Coming from a small community, Bryan was one of the first in his family to go to college, so he admits there were a lot of unknowns.

“I was not confident and wondered if I would make it both academically and athletically.”

He says that he was told by other students that he was the first Native to play football at Oregon. It is something he didn’t take lightly.

“There were many who told me they came to games to see me play and I did not know what that meant until my sons started playing and how proud people were of them.”

Each game, Bryan says that he gave it his all. “I just had to go give it my best and see what happens. I was being challenged at a level that I was not sure of myself and my abilities to play varsity football.”

That is the same attitude that Bryan took with him after earning his bachelor’s degree in public affairs with a focus on public administration. After working several years for the City of Needles, California, he joined Exelis, a global aerospace, defense, information, and services company. At the time, Exelis was responsible for the maintenance and operation of the Goldstone Deep Space Communication Complex near Barstow, California. The antennas at the site are used to communicate with satellites millions of miles away.

He served on the NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Deep Space Network (DSN) Maintenance and Operation contract as the DSN’s environmental, safety, and health manager.

“I have been fortunate to go to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and watch a shuttle launch and landing, rollout to launch site, and a tour to get close to one of the shuttles during some maintenance activities.”

Today, Bryan is the the environment, health, and safety manager at Peraton, a technology company with sectors in space, intelligence, cybersecurity, defense, homeland security, and health.

Discover more about Bryan’s career journey.

Early groundbreakers in football

Oregon’s first Black student-athletes: Leading the charge towards victory and equality

Delve into the history of Robert “Bobby” Robinson and Charles Williams, the first two African American athletes to compete at the UO - and how their legacy is alive and well today.

Discover more about Robinson and Williams

Photo credit: Cameron Colvin LinkedIn

Cameron Colvin, BS ’08 (political science)

Former NFL wide receiver, author, philanthropist, entrepreneur

Cameron Colvin is a former wide receiver for the Ducks. After his time playing for Oregon from 2004 to 2007, he went on to play for the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL.

Throughout his career, Colvin has transferred his athletic talents into business skills as an entrepreneur, real estate investor, and philanthropist.

“Sports is a wonderful classroom for business when it is backed by the practical hands-on experience of actually running a business and managing a payroll,” Colvin said in a recent statement. “I was fortunate that I also attended college where I played for the Oregon Ducks, but much of what I’ve learned in areas such as finance I had to teach myself.”

Today, Colvin is the founder, chairman, and CEO of the multimillion-dollar international real estate development and investment firm CamCo Commercial Inc (established in 2014), as well as the creative solutions company, Rise Above Enterprises Development. In the latter, he has taken on projects for Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee and other big-name clients.

In 2016, Colvin wrote the book, Neverstop: 12 Principles of Success, where he shares the principles that helped him survive and thrive in life after the tragic loss of both of his parents at a young age, as well as the murder of his best friend the day they were headed to college.

Colvin also prioritizes philanthropy. In 2020, he pledged $200 million to the Goodwill Industries of Central and Northern Arizona Foundation to help Arizonans achieve lifelong prosperity.

Colvin shared with AZ Business Magazine that the best way to help Arizonans who do not have high school diplomas move out of poverty is by helping them with their educational needs, so that they can move on to a successful career path.

“Generational wealth starts with creating more contributing members of society, and by wealth, we are referring to knowledge, health, and self-actualization,” he told the magazine.

This fall, Colvin is being honored at the UO Black Alumni Network Reunion with the inaugural Impact in Athletics Award for his athletic achievements and leadership in his community. Want to know more about Colvin’s story? Be sure to check out the 2014 Sony film When the Game Stands Tall, about his life through high school playing football with the De La Salle Spartans.

Photo credit: U.S. District Court of Oregon Historical Society

Ancer Haggerty, BS ’67 (social science)

US Marine Corps Veteran, Retired Federal Judge

Ancer Haggerty is a former offensive guard and defensive tackle for the Ducks, a Vietnam War veteran who was awarded a Silver Star, and the first African American federal judge in Oregon.

After his time playing for the Ducks from 1963 to 1967, the Oregon native enlisted in the US Marine Corps. He was sent to Vietnam, where he was severely injured just two weeks after arriving. The attack left one of his arms badly shattered, which meant Haggerty’s dream of playing professional football would not be realized.

He’d excelled in a class on the Code of Military Justice during his time in the Marines, which Haggerty said sparked his interest.

“I do like this law stuff,” Haggerty recalled telling members of his platoon, during an oral history interview with Clark Hansen. “When I finished my three years, I had decided that I was going to law school.”

Haggerty graduated from the University of California, Hastings College of Law in 1973 and moved back to Oregon. He went on to enjoy a successful career in public defense and private practice, prior to being appointed and subsequently elected as Multnomah County District Court judge. During his time with Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, Haggerty was the first African American partner in a major Portland law firm.

In 1994, he was appointed to the US District Court by President Bill Clinton, making him the first African American federal judge in Oregon. Haggerty said that in the early 1970s, there weren’t many people of color in the Oregon Bar. Over the course of his career, he has given talks to BIPOC youth on pursuing advanced education.

“I have, over the course of my 30-plus years in the bar, always encouraged people to continue their education, as well as to consider going to law school, because you know, it is a good profession,” Haggerty told Hansen. “It’s one that you can have well into your later years, and you can do a lot or do a little. It depends on the person. I’ve enjoyed it.”

Haggerty served as chief judge for the District of Oregon from 2002 to 2009, before taking senior status in 2009 and fully retiring in 2014. He is remembered for his role as presiding judge in two notorious neo-Nazi cases in Portland, and has left a legacy of fairness, discipline, and accountability.

Mighty Oregon Podcast: Interviews with Legends

Tune in to the official podcast of the Oregon Ducks. In these select interviews, host Rob Moseley, BA ’99 (news editorial), connects with several alumnae from Oregon in a way that’s equal parts entertaining and interesting, giving insight to their journey to greatness.

Anthony Brown:
Prepared for Anything

De'Anthony Thomas:
Catch D.A.T.

Dennis Dixon:
Back on the Map

Chad Cota:
Roses are Gang Green

Tony Washington:
I smell Roses

Dave Wilcox Part 1:
The Intimidator

Photo credit: Photo by Doug Pitt, courtesy of Haloti Ngata

Haloti Ngata, Class of 2006 (sociology)

Former NFL defensive tackle, cofounder of Haloti Ngata Family Foundation

Etuini Haloti Ngata was born in Inglewood, California to Tongan immigrants Ofa and Solomone Ngata. The family moved to Utah when Haloti was six, and little more than a decade later he was bulldozing his way to a five-star rating as the nation’s No. 2-ranked high school football player.

As a Duck, Ngata earned Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-American honors. However, away from Autzen Stadium his personal life was in turmoil.

Toward the end of his freshman season, his father died in a car accident. During Haloti’s junior year, his mother Ofa fell ill with kidney problems. Haloti declared for the NFL Draft after his junior season to help support her financially, but she died just one week after his announcement.

“I learned a lot of things from both my parent’s deaths,” Ngata shared in a Ravens' interview. “My dad passed away and I didn’t really take it that well and didn’t do well in life and just went down in football . . . so I learned from that when my mom passed away.”

Three months after his mother’s death and shortly after his graduation, Ngata was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens as their first-round pick.

Over his 13 seasons in the NFL (the final four with Detroit and Philadelphia), Ngata became a Super Bowl champion (with the Ravens in 2012), a five-time Pro Bowler, and a two-time first-team All-Pro.

When Ngata reflects on winning the Super Bowl championship, he recalls time spent with his father.

“I watched the Super Bowl with my dad when I was a kid all the time, and that’s the only time I watched TV on Sundays,” Ngata shared with former Eagles teammate Chris Long. “When we won, all I could think about was my family . . . it wasn’t about me. It was about them.”

Family has always been a pillar in Ngata’s life. And, that is one of the reasons he began to seriously look at life after the NFL and how he could devote himself more fully to his wife Christina, four sons, and the Haloti Ngata Family Foundation, which he launched with his wife in 2012. But first, he had to retire. Enter Chris Long.

“Chris invited me to a charity event out in Africa,” Ngata told the UOAA. “I was in the middle of thinking about retirement, and he invited me to Africa to hike, so I thought I’d do both at the same time: help raise money for Africa and announce my retirement.”

When Ngata reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, he unfurled the flag that officially announced the end of his 13-year NFL career.

Following his retirement announcement in 2019, ESPN named him “one of the most dominant defensive linemen of his era.” One opponent, Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday, had previously called him “an absolute monster,” while former teammate Jarret Johnson said of him, “You couldn’t build a more perfect football player.”

Ngata has turned his attention back to his family and foundation. He is also honing his coaching skills so he can coach his sons’ teams.

“Whatever I can do to be around them, that’s all I want to do, really,” said Ngata.

Learn more about Ngata’s journey to the NFL.

Photo credit: Ahmad Rashad Twitter

Ahmad Rashad (Bobby Moore),
Class of 1971, BEd ’95 (independent study)

Oregon and NFL football legend, Emmy® Award winner, NBC anchor and sportscaster, executive producer

While playing football for the Ducks, Ahmad Rashad was known as Bobby Moore. Born in Portland, Oregon, he went to high school in Tacoma, Washington, and received a football scholarship to the university.

Rashad broke several records at Oregon. According to the UO Athletics Hall of Fame, in three record-setting seasons, he rushed for 2,306 yards, caught 131 passes, and scored 226 points, marks that stood for 18 years. In 1972, Rashad became the fourth Oregon player drafted into the NFL.

Ahmad shared with Oregon Athletics that his coach always encouraged him and his teammates to be involved in campus life beyond football.

”For me [campus] was a perfect spot,” he said. ”It was a socially active place and there was so much going on at that time. I had a football coach in Jerry Frei that allowed us to be more than football players. He encouraged us to be students and to have a social conscious and that’s all anyone can ask for. When I say, ‘Go Ducks,‘ I really mean it.”

After his time at the UO, Rashad spent 10 seasons in the NFL as a receiver with the Arizona Cardinals, New York Buffalo Bills, Seattle Seahawks, and finally settled with the Minnesota Vikings for six years. Over the course of his NFL career, he caught 495 passes for 6,831 yards and 44 touchdowns, while rushing for 52 yards. At the time of his retirement, he was tied number eight for all-time receptions in the NFL, joining five wide receivers in the College Football Hall of Fame.

When asked by MyLITV about what it means to win, Rashad had this response, “People play sports and it’s about winning, but that’s not life . . . when the game is over, you have to go home. Winning could be having a wonderful family, having wonderful kids, having a wonderful job, being able to fulfill your dreams in a lot of different areas.”

And Rashad has worked hard to fulfill many dreams beyond football. After his NFL career, he embarked on a broadcasting career as an NBA anchor and sportscaster. While at NBC, he has received multiple Emmy Award nominations and won an Emmy as the host of a series, One on One with Ahmad Rashad. He has gone on to be an executive producer and managing editor for NBA Entertainment with shows: Inside Stuff, Tuesday Nights with Ahmad, and Stay in School specials. He is also executive producer of the ESPN series Ahmad Inside.

“I have enjoyed everything along the way,” Rashad shared with WCCO – CBS Minnesota. “Nothing just fell to me, I always prepared for everything that came to me.”

Over the course of his career, Rashad has also sought to impact his community. Through the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, he launched the Ahmad Rashad Passport to Manhood Program, which helps youth deal with the challenges of their adolescent years. He also created the Ahmad Rashad Celebrity Classic, an annual golf tournament that raises money to benefit White Plains Hospital Center, which provides essential health care services to families in Westchester County in New York.

When asked about the true meaning of success he said, “Winning is not about winning the game, it’s about winning life.”

Oregon’s first football team

Since its inception over a century ago, Oregon has battled in rain, in snow, in mud, and in the dark of night, making its way from obscurity to having a bold legacy, not only in the Pacific Northwest, but across the nation. As the 2022 season takes off, we look back at how it all started.

Discover more about the early years of football