CHARLOTTESVILLE (WINA) – Former star UVa football player and former head coach — and 4-time NFL Pro-Bowler — Sonny Randle has passed away at the age of 81. A friend of the family says they don’t know where he died, but he was in hospice care when he died overnight.
Born Ulmo Shannon Randle, Jr. in Cohasset — Sonny was living in the Valley outside of Staunton with his wife Gail. He went to Fork Union in his elementary and high school years where he was a renowned track athlete that did not play football until his last year in 1954. He scholarshipped at VMI, but withdrew — enrolled at UVa, walked on, and got scholarshipped. He was honorable mention All-American in 1958, and was the 19th overall pick by the Chicago Cardinals in the NFL draft.
He played 10 years in the NFL as a speedster wide receiver, and his career ended in 1969 with the Redskins. He coached UVa in lean years in 1974 and 1975 where his teams went 4-7 and 1-10. He went to Marshall as coach in 1979 and his last year there was his last year of coaching in 1983, after which he embarked on a broadcast career.
Sonny Randle… dead at the age of 81.
