#56 Richard Jose Casares of Tampa, Florida, played fullback and kicker for Bob Woodruff‘s Florida Gators football team as well as guard on John Mauer‘s Florida Gators basketball team from 1951 to 1953. Rick scored the first touchdown in the Gators’ first bowl game, a 14-13 win over Tulsa in 1952. He as second-team All-SEC and honorable mention All-American in football in 1952, third-team All-SEC in basketball in 1952, and second-team All-SEC in basketball in 1953.
Casares was a second-round NFL Draft pick by the Chicago Bears in 1954 after turning down twice the salary to play for the CFL Toronto Argonauts, but he did not play for them until he completed his military service in 1955. He led the Bears in rushing from 1955 to 1960, and he led the NFL in 1956. He was the Bears’ all-time leading rusher until Walter Payton broke his record in the 1980s. He still remains the Bears’ third all-time rusher behind Neal Anderson and ahead of Gayle Sayers.
He was named to the University of Florida Athletic Association Hall of Fame as a Gator Great in 2010. In 1999, the Tampa Tribune named Rick as one of its 100 greatest athletes of the century, and in 2007 the Florida High School Athletic Association recognized him as one of the 33 greatest high school football players of the century! In 2006, the Gainesville Sun ranked him at #37 among the top 100 Florida Gators in the first century.
Rick retired to his hometown of Tampa, Florida. He died on September 13, 2013 and is interred at the Sarasota National Cemetery.
Casares was a second-round NFL Draft pick by the Chicago Bears in 1954 after turning down twice the salary to play for the CFL Toronto Argonauts, but he did not play for them until he completed his military service in 1955. He led the Bears in rushing from 1955 to 1960, and he led the NFL in 1956. He was the Bears’ all-time leading rusher until Walter Payton broke his record in the 1980s. He still remains the Bears’ third all-time rusher behind Neal Anderson and ahead of Gayle Sayers.
He was named to the University of Florida Athletic Association Hall of Fame as a Gator Great in 2010. In 1999, the Tampa Tribune named Rick as one of its 100 greatest athletes of the century, and in 2007 the Florida High School Athletic Association recognized him as one of the 33 greatest high school football players of the century! In 2006, the Gainesville Sun ranked him at #37 among the top 100 Florida Gators in the first century.
Rick retired to his hometown of Tampa, Florida. He died on September 13, 2013 and is interred at the Sarasota National Cemetery.
