Max Runager
| No. 4 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Punter | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | March 24, 1956 Greenwood, South Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died | June 30, 2017 (aged 61) Orangeburg, South Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 189 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Orangeburg-Wilkinson (Orangeburg) | ||||||||
| College | South Carolina | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1979: 8th round, 211th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Max Culp Runager (March 24, 1956 – June 30, 2017) was an American professional football punter in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons for the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, and Cleveland Browns. A graduate of Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School,[1] he was selected by the Eagles in the eighth round (211th overall) of the 1979 NFL draft.[2] Runager played college football at the University of South Carolina. He punted for two Super Bowl teams, the Eagles in 1980 and the 49ers in 1984.[3]
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.[4][5]
NFL career statistics
[edit]| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won the Super Bowl | |
| Bold | Career high |
Regular season
[edit]| Year | Team | Punting | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Punts | Yds | Net Yds | Lng | Avg | Net Avg | Blk | Ins20 | TB | ||
| 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 | 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 |
| 1988 | 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 |
| Career | 144 | 661 | 26,581 | 22,715 | 64 | 40.2 | 33.9 | 9 | 170 | 65 | |
Playoffs
[edit]| Year | Team | Punting | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Punts | Yds | Net Yds | Lng | Avg | Net Avg | Blk | Ins20 | TB | ||
| 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 | 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 |
| Career | 13 | 63 | 2,466 | 2,145 | 52 | 39.1 | 34.0 | 0 | 15 | 3 | |
References
[edit]- ↑ Sielski, Mike (November 18, 2017). "Hero's life, lonely death: Max Runager suffered because he no longer had football". The Times and Democrat. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
- ↑ "1979 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
- ↑ Sielski, Mike (November 8, 2017). "Former Eagles punter Max Runager: Local hero's life, lonely death". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
- ↑ "The driving force behind Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)". Concussion Legacy Foundation. Archived from the original on July 2, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ↑ Belson, Ken; Mueller, Benjamin (June 20, 2023). "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". The New York Times. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
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- 1956 births
- 2017 deaths
- Players of American football from Orangeburg, South Carolina
- American football punters
- South Carolina Gamecocks football players
- Philadelphia Eagles players
- Players of American football from Greenwood, South Carolina
- San Francisco 49ers players
- Cleveland Browns players
- Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School alumni
- 20th-century American sportsmen
- American football punter stubs
