Jack Richard "Dick" Leftridge (April 14, 1944 February 27, 2007) was an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player. He played fullback for a single season in the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 (NFL) with the Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

.

Leftridge was born in Hinton, West Virginia

Hinton, West Virginia

Hinton is a city in Summers County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,880 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Summers County. Hinton was established in 1873 and chartered in 1897. Hinton was named for John "Jack" Hinton, a prominent lawyer of Summers County and husband of...

 and played college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 at West Virginia University

West Virginia Mountaineers football

The West Virginia Mountaineers football team represents West Virginia University in the NCAA FBS division of college football. Dana Holgorsen is the team's 33rd head coach. He has held the position since he was promoted in June 2011 after the resignation of Bill Stewart. The Mountaineers play their...

 (WVU). Along with Roger Alford who entered in the same class, Leftridge was the first African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 to play football at WVU.

Leftridge was selected by the Steelers with the third overall selection of the first round of the 1966 NFL Draft

1966 NFL Draft

The 1966 National Football League Draft was held on November 27, 1965. It was the last draft in which the NFL and the AFL drafted their players separate of one another. As a result, many players selected by teams from both leagues would choose to play for the more established NFL, or in a rarer...

. He appeared in only four games in his professional career and his selection is considered by some as the worst draft pick in Steelers history.