Dick Vidmer

Vidmer's father played college football as a guard at Villanova University in the 1930s. The younger Vidmer was a native of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and grew up in western Pennsylvania, which Vidmer described as "a peculiar place, where you have a lot of small towns within 10-15 miles of each other, and football is simply the sport throughout the area."{{cite news|title='Detonator Dick' a Bomb Thrower Off the Field|newspaper=The Michigan Daily|author=Rick Stern|date=November 11, 1966|page=9|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071754191/627|via=Bentley Historical Library}} He attended Hempfield Area High School, where he was one of the finest prep quarterbacks ever produced in the State of Pennsylvania.{{cite book|author=Jim Cnockaert|title=Michigan: Where Have You Gone?, pp. 200-204|year=2004|isbn=1-58261-771-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/michiganwherehav0000cnoc}} He was also president of the student council and had grades that won him admission to Harvard. In a 1966 interview, he described his college selection process as follows:

"Yea. I was accepted at Harvard. My dad was really fired up for Ivy League -- you know, prestige and ivy covered walls . . . I visited Harvard and Princeton and got an idea about that, and then I visited Purdue and MSU too and I kinda got the idea that I wanted a school that played good football, but also offered a good academic program. Ivy League football leaves a lot to be desired . . . and MSU is a little short on academics. So I came here and haven't been sorry a minute."

File:Dick Vidmer (1967).png

As a freshman in 1964, Vidmer suffered a broken leg and torn ankle ligaments during a football practice session. Vidmer never recovered fully from the injury, recalling later, "I was never able to move around like I could before. It made a difference in my effectiveness. I was not as formidable a player as I once was." He started only three games in the 1965 season, completing 32 of 68 passes with seven interceptions.{{cite web|title=1965 Football Team|publisher=University of Michigan|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbteam/1965fbt.htm}}

In 1966, Vidmer was Michigan's starting quarterback in nine of its ten games.{{cite web|title=1966 Football Team|publisher=University of Michigan|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbteam/1966fbt.htm}} In the opening game of the 1966 season, he threw for 258 passing yards,{{cite news|title=Vidmer's Passing Paces Michigan to 41-0 Romp|newspaper=Lansing State Journal|author=Hal Bateman|date=September 18, 1966|pages=H1, H6|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41782082/vidmers_passing_paces_michigan_to_410/|via=Newspapers.com}} a Michigan single-game record. Five weeks later, he completed 15 of 19 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns in a 49–0 victory over Minnesota and was selected as the UPI Midwest Back of the Week.{{cite news|title=Dick Vidmer Selected As Midwest Back of Week|newspaper=The Holland Evening Sentinel|date=October 26, 1966|page=II-1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41781136/dick_vidmer_selected_as_midwest_back_of/|via=Newspapers.com}} His total of 117 pass completions in 1966 set a new Michigan single-season record. Vidmer was also selected as an Academic All-American in 1966.

Vidmer also started four games at quarterback for the 1967 Wolverines.{{cite web|title=1967 Football Team|publisher=University of Michigan|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbteam/1967fbt.htm}} In his three years at Michigan, he completed 187 of 382 passes for 2,455 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions.{{cite news|title=Dick Vidmer|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|work=SR/College Football|access-date=January 4, 2020|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/dick-vidmer-1.html}}

Vidmer received three degrees from Michigan, a bachelor's degree in economics, a master's degree in Soviet government and politics (1972), and a Ph.D. in Soviet management theory (1978).{{cite news|title=Richard Vidmer, quarterback|newspaper=The Michigan Daily|date=October 30, 1977|pages=6, 8|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071754506/584|via=Bentley Historical Library}}

Vidmer later taught at the University of Virginia and served as an advisor to U.S. Congressman Donald A. Bailey, a former Michigan football teammate. He also served as a county commissioner in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. He was court-appointed to the county commissioner position in 1985 and elected to the position in November 1987. He became the chairman of the county commissioners.{{cite news|title=Who Is Dick Vidmer?|newspaper=The Valley Independent|date=October 31, 1991}} Vidmer was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1983 and was forced to retire in 1999.

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Category:1944 births

Category:Living people

Category:American football quarterbacks

Category:Michigan Wolverines football players

Category:County commissioners in Michigan

Category:Sportspeople from Greensburg, Pennsylvania

Category:Players of American football from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania