| No. 72 | |||||||
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| Position: | Defensive tackle | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born: | July 1, 1944 Pascagoula, Mississippi, U.S. | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school: | Texas City (Texas City, Texas) | ||||||
| College: | Texas | ||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1966 / Round: 5 / Pick: 66 | ||||||
| AFL Draft: | 1966 / Round: Red Shirt 2 / Pick: 17 (by the San Diego Chargers)[1] | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com | |||||||
Diron Vester Talbert (born July 1, 1944) is an American former professional football player who played defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, making the pro-bowl in 1975. He played four season with the Los Angeles Rams and 10 with the Washington Redskins, with whom we went to Super Bowl VII. He was later named one of the 70 greatest Redskin players of all time. As a freshman at the University of Texas he was part of the team that won the 1963 National Championship and he later made all-conference and pre-season All-American teams.
Talbert played college football at the University of Texas where he was an all-conference defensive end in his junior year a pre-season All-American in the next. As a freshman he played with the team that won the consensus National Championship. He was inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Fame in 2005.[2]
Talbert was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the 2nd round (17th overall) of the 1966 AFL Redshirt Draft and by the Los Angeles Rams in the 5th round (66th overall) of the 1966 NFL Draft. He signed with the Rams playing with them from 1967 to 1970. In a massive trade, he was traded along with Jack Pardee, Maxie Baughan, Myron Pottios, John Wilbur, Jeff Jordan and a 1971 fifth-round pick (124th overall–traded to Green Bay Packers for Boyd Dowler) from the Rams to the Redskins for Marlin McKeever, first and third rounders in 1971 (10th and 63rd overall–Isiah Robertson and Dave Elmendorf respectively) and third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh rounders in 1972 (73rd, 99th, 125th, 151st and 177th overall–to New England Patriots, traded to Philadelphia Eagles for Joe Carollo, Bob Christiansen, Texas Southern defensive tackle Eddie Herbert and to New York Giants respectively) on January 28, 1971.[3][4]
In 1971, he began playing defensive tackle for the Washington Redskins with whom he played until his retirement in 1980.[5] It was during this period that Talbert played an iconic role as part of the long-standing 1970s rivalry between the Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys.[6][7]
Talbert was a key member of 1972 NFC Championship team and was the team's starting right tackle in Super Bowl VII. He played for 14 NFL seasons for a total of 186 games. He went to the Pro Bowl after the 1974 season. In his last 3 seasons he started fewer and fewer games and retired after the 1980 season.
After retiring from football, Talbert entered the investment business and was involved with hotels, real estate and oil. He also owns and operates a retail grocery business along with his brother Don in Rosenberg, Texas.[2]
His older brother Don Talbert also played in the NFL. Prior to attending the University of Texas, both of the Talbert brothers were high school linemen at Texas City High School in Texas City, Texas.