Mark van Eeghen
Mark van Eeghen (born April 19, 1952)[1] is an American former professional football player who was a running back for ten years in the National Football League (NFL), during which he made two Super Bowl appearances. He played eight seasons for the Oakland Raiders (1974–1981) and then two seasons with the New England Patriots (1982–1983). Van Eeghen rushed for over 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons from 1976–1978.[2]
.jpg.webp) Van Eeghen with the Oakland Raiders in 1979 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Running back | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | April 19, 1952 Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 223 lb (101 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Cranston West (RI) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Colgate (1971–1973) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1974 / Round: 3 / Pick: 75 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||||||||||
Early life and education
Van Eeghen was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on April 19, 1952. He played high school football at Cranston High School West in Cranston, Rhode Island, where he graduated in 1970 and earned all-state football honors as a senior.[3]
College career
He then played at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics in 1974.[3] While at Colgate, he set the school's single-season rushing record in 1973 with 1,089 yards.[3] In his three college seasons, van Eeghen rushed for 2,591 yards and 27 touchdowns, while also catching 31 passes for 361 yards and 2 scores.[4] Van Eeghen was inducted into Colgate's Hall of Fame in 1980.[5]
Professional career
Oakland Raiders
In 1974, Van Eeghen took over as fullback of the Oakland Raiders from Marv Hubbard, also a Colgate alumnus.
In the 1980 season, Van Eeghen was part of the Raiders team that advanced to Super Bowl XV, in which they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 27 to 10. He was the game's leading rusher with 75 yards on 18 carries.[6] He also won a Super Bowl ring with the Raiders in Super Bowl XI, in which he was the team's second leading rusher with 73 yards. He left the Raiders in 1982 as the team's all-time leading rusher with 5,907 yards at the time.
New England Patriots
He then joined the New England Patriots, where he appeared in the infamous Snowplow Game. Patriots quarterback Steve Grogan attempted only five passes in the game due to the extensive snow and ice, leaving the ground attack as the only offensive option. Van Eeghen rushed the ball 22 times for 100 yards in the 3-0 Patriots win.
Van Eeghen finished his ten NFL seasons with 6,651 career rushing yards, 174 career receptions for 1,583 receiving yards, and 41 career touchdowns (37 rushing and four receiving).
NFL career statistics
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won the Super Bowl | |
| Bold | Career high |
Regular season
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1974 | OAK | 14 | 0 | 128 | 139 | 5.0 | 17 | 0 | 4 | 33 | 8.3 | 12 | 0 |
| 1975 | OAK | 14 | 8 | 136 | 597 | 4.4 | 22 | 2 | 12 | 42 | 3.5 | 18 | 1 |
| 1976 | OAK | 14 | 14 | 233 | 1,012 | 4.3 | 21 | 3 | 17 | 173 | 10.2 | 21 | 0 |
| 1977 | OAK | 14 | 14 | 324 | 1,273 | 3.9 | 27 | 7 | 15 | 135 | 9.0 | 30 | 0 |
| 1978 | OAK | 16 | 16 | 270 | 1,080 | 4.0 | 34 | 9 | 27 | 291 | 10.8 | 33 | 0 |
| 1979 | OAK | 16 | 16 | 223 | 818 | 3.7 | 19 | 7 | 54 | 474 | 9.3 | 36 | 2 |
| 1980 | OAK | 16 | 16 | 222 | 838 | 3.8 | 34 | 5 | 29 | 259 | 8.9 | 37 | 0 |
| 1981 | OAK | 8 | 3 | 39 | 150 | 3.8 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 60 | 8.6 | 13 | 0 |
| 1982 | NE | 9 | 5 | 82 | 386 | 4.7 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 7.0 | 9 | 1 |
| 1983 | NE | 15 | 11 | 95 | 358 | 3.8 | 11 | 2 | 10 | 102 | 10.2 | 23 | 0 |
| Career | 136 | 103 | 1,652 | 6,651 | 4.0 | 34 | 37 | 174 | 1,583 | 9.1 | 37 | 4 | |
Awards
In 2002, van Eeghen was inducted into the Rhode Island Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame in recognition of his career.[3] This reflected that he was voted fourth on a list of the top 50 Greatest Sports Figures by Sports Illustrated.[3]
Personal life
Van Eeghen has three daughters, including Amber (born 1980), who joined the cheerleading squad of his last team, the New England Patriots,[2] where she took part in two overseas tours with the Patriot cheerleaders to perform for U.S. troops in multiple foreign countries. She attended the University of Rhode Island, where she became captain of the "Ramettes" cheerleaders. She is currently married to Pro Bowl center Dan Koppen, a former center for the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos.[7]
References
- "34 Mark Van Eeghen FB". patriots.com. New England Patriots. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2006-06-02.
- Goode, Jon (2004-02-14). "A Patriots cheerleader: Catching up with Mark Van Eeghen". The Boston Globe (through boston.com). The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2006-06-02.
- "Scholar Athlete Hall of Fame". Institute for International Sport. Archived from the original on April 8, 2006. Retrieved 2006-06-02.
- "Mark van Eeghen College Stats".
- "Mark van Eeghen (1980) - HALL OF HONOR".
- "Super Bowl Recaps: Super Bowl XV - Oakland 27, Philadelphia 10". NFL.com. Retrieved 2006-06-30.
- "Amber van Eeghen". patriots.com. New England Patriots. Archived from the original on 2006-05-24. Retrieved 2006-06-02.