Villanova Univeristy Athletics

Al Atkinson was a two-time All-East selection during his collegiate career while playing for highly successful Villanova teams in the early 1960’s.  He went on to a 10-year professional career playing for the New York Jets and was a member of the team’s 1968 championship team which won Super Bowl III over the Baltimore Colts.  Atkinson is a 1965 graduate of Villanova and a 1984 inductee to the Varsity Club Hall of Fame.
 
Born in Philadelphia and a native of Upper Darby Pa., Atkinson attended Monsignor Bonner High School before playing for the Wildcats from 1962-64 as an offensive and defensive tackle. Villanova posted a winning record in each of his three varsity seasons and went 18-9 (.667) during Atkinson’s career, including a berth in the Liberty Bowl in 1962. Atkinson was named a first team All-East selection for both the 1963 and 1964 seasons before being drafted into the professional ranks.
 
In his first season on the varsity roster in 1962 the Wildcats went 7-3 and played in the fourth annual Liberty Bowl, losing a closely contested 6-0 decision at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium. Villanova had no advantage as the hometown team in the game, as it faced a heavily favored Oregon State squad which was riding a seven-game winning streak and featured the season’s Heisman Trophy winner in All-American quarterback Terry Baker.  Entering the Liberty Bowl, the Beavers winning streak included a 27-0 win over No. 12 Stanford, a 51-22 rout of No. 19 West Virginia and a come-from-behind 20-17 win over Oregon.
 
What the Wildcats did have on their side was recent bowl experience and unfavorable weather conditions which helped to neutralize both team’s offenses. Villanova had defeated Wichita State in the 1961 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, while Oregon State was playing in its first bowl game in five years.  It would be the Beavers last victory in a bowl game until the 2001 Fiesta Bowl.  Bad weather froze the field, and the temperature during the game never reached above 25 degrees. 
 
A sequence of two drives in the opening quarter ultimately decided the game.  After the Wildcats downed a punt to pin Oregon State at its own one-yard line, Baker took the ensuing snap and was met by Atkinson who nearly came up with a sack in the end zone for a safety.  Baker eventually got loose around end, however and raced 99 yards down the sideline for a touchdown and the game’s only points.  Villanova drove to the Beavers 12-yard line on its next possession and appeared to tie the game on a Billy Joe touchdown run, but the score was nullified by a holding call.  Atkinson and Joe would later be teammates on the New York Jets from 1967-69.
 
The 1962 Liberty Bowl would end up being the Wildcats final postseason game for 27 years until Villanova advanced to the FCS playoffs for the first time in 1989.  Over the final two years of his collegiate career, Atkinson was part of a 5-4 team during the 1963 season and a 6-2 campaign in 1964. 
 
Atkinson faced an uncertain beginning to his professional career after being chosen in both the AFL and NFL drafts in 1965.  He was a third round pick of the Buffalo Bills in the AFL Draft and a sixth round selection of the Baltimore Colts in the NFL Draft.  Atkinson later noted that the Bills were more persistent in their efforts to sign him, which they eventually did, and he attended training camp with the defending AFL champions.  Buffalo was headed for a repeat AFL title in 1965 and immediately shifted Atkinson to middle linebacker, a position he had never played before and was given only three or four weeks to learn while playing in two of the Bills five preseason exhibition contests. 
 
Just two of 23 first-year players who attended camp with Buffalo made the final roster, and Atkinson was claimed off waivers by the Jets less than a week before their season opener at Houston.  He drove with three-year veteran defensive back Ray Abruzzese from Buffalo and met the Jets in New York.  Atkinson was happy with the move both personally and professionally, with New York much closer to his Philadelphia home than Buffalo.
 
It was an opportune time to be joining the Jets, who would be a team on the rise in Atkinson’s early years with the team.  He played in all 14 games of a 5-8-1 campaign in his 1965 rookie season, starting two contests and recording an interception in a Week 6 game against Oakland at Shea Stadium.  Atkinson then went on to start each of the 64 games he played in over the next five seasons (1966-70). He had four interceptions in 1966 and the Jets went 6-6-2 on the year. 
 
Atkinson continued his emergence during the 1967 season, when the Jets were 8-5-1 and tallied the first winning record in team history.  He tied for the team lead with five interceptions, including a career long 36-yard return in a 33-14 win over Miami in Week 8.  Atkinson also registered his first career fumble recovery during the year.
 
The Jets went 11-3 in their championship season in 1968 and defeated the NFL champion Colts, 16-7, to win Super Bowl III.  It was a come-full-circle moment for Atkinson, the former draft pick of the Colts just three years earlier.  He started at middle linebacker in the Super Bowl and recorded three solo tackles in the game.  Atkinson played in 12 games total in 1968 and recorded two interceptions on the year.  He played in his first career playoff game in the AFL Championship game against Oakland preceding the Super Bowl. 
 
Atkinson was named an AFL All-Star in 1968 and played in the league’s All-Star Game a week after the Super Bowl. He credited Jets linebacker coach Walt Michaels with his development into an all-star in only his third season at the linebacker position. 
 
Atkinson played all 10 of his professional seasons (1965-74) with the Jets. His tenure with the team spanned the NFL-AFL merger which was announced on June 8, 1966 and took effect prior to the 1970 season.  His career totals with the Jets included 120 games played with 92 starts; 21 interceptions for a total of 224 return yards; and two fumble recoveries.
 
Upon his retirement from the NFL, Atkinson stayed close to his Philadelphia roots.  He made his home in Springfield, Pa. and was a partner in the Atkinson & Mullen Travel Agency, which later became Apple Vacations. The company ran group tours all over the world, including to Germany, Hawaii and the Caribbean.  Atkinson spent three-plus years in the travel industry before opting to stay closer to home in the car sales business, where he worked for more than 20 years at three dealerships near his home before his retirement.
 
Atkinson’s jersey number – 74 – was retired on the Wall of Fame in Villanova Stadium in 1997.