Dale Hackbart
| No. 40, 46, 49, 48 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Safety | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | July 21, 1938 Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Madison East | ||||||||
| College | Wisconsin | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1960: 5th round, 51st overall pick | ||||||||
| AFL draft | 1960 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| |||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Dale Leonard Hackbart (born July 21, 1938) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive back and special teams player for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Green Bay Packers, Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings, St. Louis Cardinals, and Denver Broncos from 1960 to 1973. He also played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1965.
Hackbart's career ended shortly after suffering a serious neck injury in the first game of the 1973 season, which he asserted was the result of a reckless blow to the back of his neck by another player well after play had come to a stop. Hackbart brought a civil tort lawsuit in a United States district court seeking money damages, which was dismissed by a trial court, but reinstated on appeal. This opened the possibility for an athlete in any sport to bring a civil lawsuit against an opponent for reckless conduct in an athletic competition that injures that player.
Hackbart was diagnosed with breast cancer in late December 1998, and was successfully treated. He became a spokesman for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, especially in making men aware that they could be subject to the disease as well as women, and the need for early detection and treatment to survive.