Max Runager
{{Short description|American football player (1956–2017)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Max Runager
| number = 4
| position = Punter
| birth_date = {{birth date|1956|3|24}}
| birth_place = Greenwood, South Carolina, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2017|6|30|1956|3|24}}
| death_place = Orangeburg, South Carolina, U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 1
| weight_lb = 189
| high_school = Orangeburg-Wilkinson (Orangeburg, South Carolina)
| college = South Carolina
| draftyear = 1979
| draftround = 8
| draftpick = 211
| pastteams =
- Philadelphia Eagles ({{NFL Year|1979}}–{{NFL Year|1983}})
- San Francisco 49ers ({{NFL Year|1984}}–{{NFL Year|1988}})
- Cleveland Browns ({{NFL Year|1988}})
- Philadelphia Eagles ({{NFL Year|1989}})
| highlights =
- 2X Super Bowl champion (XIX, XXIII)
| statlabel1 = Punts
| statvalue1 = 661
| statlabel2 = Punt yards
| statvalue2 = 26,581
| statlabel3 = Longest punt
| statvalue3 = 64
| pfr = RunaMa20
}}
Max Culp Runager (March 24, 1956 – June 30, 2017) was a professional American football punter in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons for the Philadelphia Eagles, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Cleveland Browns. A graduate of Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School,{{cite news |last1=Sielski |first1=Mike |title=Hero's life, lonely death: Max Runager suffered because he no longer had football |url=https://thetandd.com/lifestyles/magazine/heros-life-lonely-death-max-runager-suffered-because-he-no-longer-had-football/article_275d6cd1-ed1d-5e7b-86d1-d451f6d35eff.html |access-date=27 January 2021 |publisher=The Times and Democrat |date=November 18, 2017}} Runager played college football at the University of South Carolina. He punted for two Super Bowl teams, the Philadelphia Eagles in 1980 and the San Francisco 49ers in 1984.{{cite news |author=Sielski, Mike |title=Former Eagles punter Max Runager: Local hero's life, lonely death |url=http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/philadelphia-eagles-nfl-football-max-runager-super-bowl-san-francisco-49ers-punter-20171109.html |newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=November 8, 2017 |access-date=November 18, 2017}}
Runager is one of at least 345 NFL players to be diagnosed after death with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is caused by repeated hits to the head.{{cite news |title=The driving force behind Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) |website=Concussion Legacy Foundation |url=https://concussionfoundation.org/cte-resources/subconcussive-impacts |access-date=July 2, 2023 |archive-date=July 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702123543/https://concussionfoundation.org/cte-resources/subconcussive-impacts |url-status=dead }}{{Cite news |last1=Belson |first1=Ken |last2=Mueller |first2=Benjamin |date=June 20, 2023 |title=Collective Force of Head Hits, Not Just the Number of Them, Increases Odds of C.T.E. The largest study of chronic traumatic encephalopathy to date found that the cumulative force of head hits absorbed by players in their careers is the best predictor of future brain disease. |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/20/sports/football/cte-study-concussions-brain-tackle.html |access-date=July 2, 2023}}
NFL career statistics
| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
! colspan="2"| Legend |
| style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"|
| Won the Super Bowl |
| Bold
| Career high |
= Regular season =
| class=wikitable style="text-align:center;" | ||||||||||
| rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Team ! colspan="10"| Punting | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| {{abbr|GP|Games played}} | Punts | {{abbr|Yds|Yards}} | {{Nowrap|Net Yds}} | {{abbr|Lng|Longest punt}} | {{abbr|Avg|Average}} | {{Nowrap|Net Avg}} | {{abbr|Blk|Blocked punts}} | {{abbr|Ins20|Inside 20 yard line}} | {{abbr|TB|Touchbacks}} | |
| 1979 | PHI
| 16 || 74 || 2,927 || 2,607 || 57 || 39.6 || 34.8 || 1 || 13 || 6 | |||||||||
| 1980 | PHI
| 16 || 75 || 2,947 || 2,563 || 58 || 39.3 || 33.7 || 1 || 16 || 8 | |||||||||
| 1981 | PHI
| 15 || 63 || 2,567 || 2,201 || 64 || 40.7 || 34.9 || 0 || 18 || 6 | |||||||||
| 1982 | PHI
| 9 || 44 || 1,784 || 1,448 || 53 || 40.5 || 32.9 || 0 || 8 || 1 | |||||||||
| 1983 | PHI
| 12 || 59 || 2,459 || 2,020 || 55 || 41.7 || 34.2 || 0 || 12 || 5 | |||||||||
| 1984 | style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"| SFO
| 14 || 56 || 2,341 || 1,925 || 59 || 41.8 || 33.8 || 1 || 18 || 12 | |||||||||
| 1985 | SFO
| 16 || 86 || 3,422 || 2,948 || 57 || 39.8 || 33.9 || 1 || 30 || 9 | |||||||||
| 1986 | SFO
| 16 || 83 || 3,450 || 2,917 || 62 || 41.6 || 34.3 || 2 || 23 || 8 | |||||||||
| 1987 | SFO
| 12 || 55 || 2,157 || 1,850 || 56 || 39.2 || 33.0 || 1 || 14 || 7 | |||||||||
| rowspan="2" | 1988 | style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"| SFO
| 1 || 1 || 24 || 24 || 24 || 24.0 || 24.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||
| CLE
| 13 || 48 || 1,935 || 1,694 || 52 || 40.3 || 33.9 || 2 || 13 || 2 | ||||||||||
| 1989 | PHI
| 4 || 17 || 568 || 518 || 52 || 33.4 || 30.5 || 0 || 5 || 1 | |||||||||
| colspan="2"| Career | 144 | 661 | 26,581 | 22,715 | 64 | 40.2 | 33.9 | 9 | 170 | 65 |
= Playoffs =
| class=wikitable style="text-align:center;" | ||||||||||
| rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Team ! colspan="10"| Punting | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| {{abbr|GP|Games played}} | Punts | {{abbr|Yds|Yards}} | {{Nowrap|Net Yds}} | {{abbr|Lng|Longest punt}} | {{abbr|Avg|Average}} | {{Nowrap|Net Avg}} | {{abbr|Blk|Blocked punts}} | {{abbr|Ins20|Inside 20 yard line}} | {{abbr|TB|Touchbacks}} | |
| 1979 | PHI
| 2 || 9 || 383 || 330 || 52 || 42.6 || 36.7 || 0 || 2 || 1 | |||||||||
| 1980 | PHI
| 3 || 11 || 382 || 339 || 46 || 34.7 || 30.8 || 0 || 2 || 1 | |||||||||
| 1981 | PHI
| 1 || 7 || 297 || 256 || 47 || 42.4 || 36.6 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||
| 1984 | style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"| SFO
| 3 || 11 || 425 || 376 || 48 || 38.6 || 34.2 || 0 || 3 || 0 | |||||||||
| 1985 | SFO
| 1 || 6 || 228 || 179 || 46 || 38.0 || 29.8 || 0 || 1 || 1 | |||||||||
| 1986 | SFO
| 1 || 10 || 400 || 343 || 49 || 40.0 || 34.3 || 0 || 3 || 0 | |||||||||
| 1987 | SFO
| 1 || 6 || 245 || 216 || 49 || 40.8 || 36.0 || 0 || 1 || 0 | |||||||||
| 1988 | CLE
| 1 || 3 || 106 || 106 || 43 || 35.3 || 35.3 || 0 || 3 || 0 | |||||||||
| colspan="2"| Career | 13 | 63 | 2,466 | 2,145 | 52 | 39.1 | 34.0 | 0 | 15 | 3 |
References
{{reflist}}
{{Eagles1979DraftPicks}}
{{Super Bowl XIX}}
{{Super Bowl XXIII|state=autocollapse}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Runager, Max}}
Category:Sportspeople from Greenwood, South Carolina
Category:American football punters
Category:South Carolina Gamecocks football players
Category:Philadelphia Eagles players
Category:Players of American football from South Carolina
Category:San Francisco 49ers players
Category:Cleveland Browns players
Category:Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School alumni
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