Former Washington offensive lineman Ron Saul has passed away at the age of 73. He was a guard for Washington from 1976 tthrough 1982.<\/p>\n
“On behalf of Dan and Tanya Snyder and the entire Washington Football Team, we send our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Ron Saul,” the team said in a released statement.<\/p>\n
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Saul was originally drafted in the fifth round by the Houston Oilers in 1970. In total, he played in 142 games in his 12-year NFL career, and started 113 of them.<\/p>\n
In six years in Washington, he had been a very serviceable guard, starting nearly every game for five straight seasons.<\/p>\n
1981 was the year that Joe Jacoby<\/a>, Mark May, and Russ Grimm<\/a> all arrived to Washington’s offensive line corps. Ostensibly the birth of The Hogs<\/a>, though they would not be called such until the following season. There were eighteen offensive linemen at Training Camp that year. Still, Saul battled hard and kept his job.<\/p>\n In 1982, Saul injured his knee. Again. In fact over his career, he had seven knee operations – five on his right knee and two on his left. This was the last one though. He was placed on injured reserve and would not play again. He was there with the team, and The Hogs<\/a> for the entire Super Bowl<\/a> run though.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n