Keith Robert Krepfle (born February 4, 1952) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons. He played college football for the Iowa State Cyclones.
.jpg) Krepfle playing for the Eagles in 1977 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Tight end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | February 4, 1952 Dubuque, Iowa, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 227 lb (103 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Potosi | ||||||||
| College: | Iowa State | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1974 / round: 5 / pick: 115 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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College career
During his three-year career at Iowa State, Krepfle dominated the Big Eight. He hauled in 94 passes for 1,368 yards and 15 touchdowns in addition to playing in two bowl games.[1] His inaugural Cyclone season Krepfle led the team to their first ever bowl game, the 1971 Sun Bowl.[2] The next season, Keith would again lead the Cyclones to a bowl berth with the 1972 Liberty Bowl.[3] Krepfle's best collegiate game was against #3 Nebraska during the 1972 season in which he caught two touchdowns.[4]
While at Iowa State, Keith was a member of the fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon.[5]
In 2002 he was inducted into the Iowa State Cyclones Hall of Fame.[6]
Professional career
Despite being drafted in the fifth round of the 1974 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles,[7] Krepfle chose to sign with the Jacksonville Sharks of the World Football League. All-pro tight end Charle Young was already entrenched with Eagles[8] and the Sharks offered Krepfle a guaranteed contract. Just 14 games into the season the Sharks went bankrupt and the team folded.[9] The following season Krepfle signed a contract with the Eagles to play in the NFL.
After limited playing time his first two seasons with the Eagles, Charle Young was traded to the Los Angeles Rams for QB Ron Jaworski prior to the 1977 season.[10] This created an opening for Krepfle to shine. As a full-time starter for the Eagles, Krepfle would have over 150 catches for nearly 2,500 yards and 19 touchdowns. Keith became the first Eagle to ever catch a touch down in the Super Bowl during their appearance in Super Bowl XV.[11]
Following seven seasons with the Eagles, Krepfle played one additional season with the Atlanta Falcons.[12]
Statistics
- Regular season
| Year | Team | G | GS | Receiving | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||||
| 1974 | SHA | 14 | 14 | 6 | 80 | 13.3 | 30 | 0 |
| 1975 | PHI | 14 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 16 | 0 |
| 1976 | PHI | 10 | 1 | 6 | 80 | 13.3 | 30 | 1 |
| 1977 | PHI | 14 | 14 | 27 | 530 | 19.6 | 55 | 3 |
| 1978 | PHI | 10 | 10 | 26 | 374 | 14.4 | 34 | 3 |
| 1979 | PHI | 16 | 16 | 41 | 760 | 18.5 | 45 | 3 |
| 1980 | PHI | 13 | 11 | 30 | 450 | 15.0 | 27 | 4 |
| 1981 | PHI | 16 | 16 | 20 | 210 | 10.5 | 26 | 5 |
| 1982 | ATL | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Total | 111 | 82 | 158 | 2,505 | 15.8 | 55 | 19 | |
| Reference:[13] | ||||||||
- Playoffs season
| Year | Team | G | GS | Receiving | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||||
| 1979 | PHI | 2 | 2 | 3 | 23 | 7.7 | 12 | 0 |
| 1980 | PHI | 3 | 3 | 6 | 65 | 10.8 | 20 | 1 |
| 1981 | PHI | 1 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 18.0 | 18 | 0 |
| 1982 | ATL | 1 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 18.0 | 18 | 0 |
| Total | 7 | 7 | 11 | 124 | 11.3 | 20 | 1 | |
| Reference:[13] | ||||||||
Post-NFL career
After his NFL career, Krepfle embarked on a career in the health care industry, working for large pharmaceutical companies such as Novartis, Bristol Myers Squibb and Delta Pharma before starting his own company. Today he lives in the Poconos in Pennsylvania.[11]
References
- ^ "Keith Krepfle - Hall of Fame Class of 2002". www.cyclones.com. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
- ^ "LSU 33, Iowa State 15 | Recaps - Hyundai Sun Bowl | December 29, 2017 | El Paso, Texas". www.sunbowl.org. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
- ^ "Iowa State 2017 Liberty Bowl: George Amundson remembers Iowa State's 1972 Liberty Bowl two-point conversion against Georgia Tech". Retrieved January 4, 2018.
- ^ "Nebraska vs. Iowa State 1972 -- HuskerMax™". www.huskermax.com. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
- ^ "Distinguished Alumni | Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity". www.tke.org. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
- ^ "Iowa State Athletics". www.cyclones.com. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
- ^ "1974 NFL Draft Results by Position - Tight Ends - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
- ^ Klein, Gary (August 13, 2005). "USC's Young Goes Into the Hall Today". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
- ^ "World Football League". wfl.charlottehornetswfl.com. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
- ^ Yowell, Keith (March 9, 2011). "Today in Pro Football History: 1977: Eagles Trade Charle Young to Rams for Ron Jaworski". Today in Pro Football History. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
- ^ a b "Where Are They Now? TE Keith Krepfle". Retrieved January 4, 2018.
- ^ "Keith Krepfle". NFL.com. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
- ^ a b "Keith Krepfle Stats | Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 4, 2018.