Monday, March 9, 2009

Friendly Encounters

This is another in a series of meetings of my friends and celebs.

Several weeks ago, I featured Pete Ruggieri (aka Evil Pete) founder of 505, a social network based out of the Lancaster (PA) area. Ruggieri let me run a photo of him and former Philadelphia Eagles QB Mike Boryla. It was a great picture from 1975, very nostalgic and featuring one of my favorite players from when I was a kid.

While communicating with Ruggieri for an online piece for Global Traveler magazine, he mentioned having a few other photos from the same time. Of course, I jumped all over that and asked who he had and if he would share them as well.
One of the other players was kicker Horst Muhlmann. Muhlmann had an interesting career, definitely of the old school variety.
Born in Dortmund, Germany, Muhlmann played several years in various soccer leagues after high school. In 1969, at the age of 29, Muhlmann made his NFL debut with the Cincinnati Bengals. After 5 years with the Bengals, Muhlmann finished his career by playing 3 seasons with the Eagles.
Muhlmann always had a reputation as being one of the best long kickers. He is one of only 4 kickers to have kicked 50+ yard field goals in 3 consecutive games. Muhlmann still holds or shares several kicking records for the Bengals.
Pete Ruggieri and Horst Muhlmann in West Chester, PA-Summer 1975.

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