Dave Lapham

For the cartoonist, see David Lapham.
Dave Lapham
No. 62
Position: Guard / Center / Tackle
Personal information
Date of birth: (1952-06-24) June 24, 1952
Place of birth: Melrose, Massachusetts
Height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight: 259 lb (117 kg)
Career information
High school: Wakefield (MA)
College: Syracuse
NFL Draft: 1974 / Round: 3 / Pick: 61
Career history
Career NFL statistics
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Dave Lapham (born June 24, 1952) is a former professional football offensive lineman for the National Football League's Cincinnati Bengals from 1974 to 1983 and the United States Football League's New Jersey Generals (1984–1985). During his career, he played all five line positions and was a key player on the 1981 Bengals squad that won the AFC championship, but ultimately lost Super Bowl XVI to the San Francisco 49ers. He has served as the Bengals radio color commentator for 30 seasons (through the 2015-16 season), is a local Bengals TV analyst and radio host and is a Big 12 football analyst for Fox Sports Net.[1]

Early life

Lapham attended Wakefield Memorial High School in Wakefield, Massachusetts, where he was a three-year letterman and captain in basketball and football and a four-year letterman and captain in track. He is a member of the school's hall of fame.[2]

He then attended Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Communications. At Syracuse, he lettered in three seasons and was a team captain. He played in the 1973 East-West Shrine Game, the North-South Game, the Senior Bowl and the Hula Bowl.[3]

Professional career

Lapham was selected by the Bengals in the third round of the 1974 draft. He played with them until 1984, when he signed a 10-year guaranteed personal services contract with business tycoon Donald Trump, the majority owner of the New Jersey Generals. Lapham called it a "... business decision for my family."[4] Linebacker Jim LeClair, his Bengals teammate, also signed with the Generals.

Broadcasting career

After his retirement, in 1986 Lapham became a Bengals broadcaster. He is the color analyst on Bengals' radio broadcasts with partner Dan Hoard handling play-by-play duties. The duo also hosts Bengals Weekly with Marvin Lewis, a recap and preview television show. He also works on Fox Sports Net's broadcasts of Big 12 Conference games. Additionally, he appears as a panelist on Sports Rock, a local sports commentary program.

Lapham has also worked with Cincinnati Bengals long-time play-by-play voices Brad Johansen, Phil Samp (the Bengals' original announcer) Ken Broo, Ohio State University play-by-play announcer Paul Keels and USC Trojans' announcer Pete Arbogast on Bengal broadcasts during the course of his tenure as color man. He is famous for urging on Bengal players with exhortations such as "come on!" and "get him!", saying "uh-oh" when a sack or interception is in the works, and calling the players by their first names.

Personal life

Lapham resides in Cincinnati with his wife, Lynne. They have two grown children, Dave Jr. and Sarah. Lapham is active in the Cincinnati community and is president of the charitable foundation Charities M.D., which awards scholarships to students looking to pursue a career in healthcare.[5][6]

His nephew, Richard Lapham, earned first-team accolades as a high schooler at Souhegan High School in Amherst, New Hampshire in 2005 and played offensive tackle for Boston College.[7][8] His other nephew, Brian Lapham, was an All-Ivy League offensive lineman for Harvard University.[9]

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/5/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.