Charles "Chuck" Kalev Ehin, the first player of Estonian descent to play National Football League (NFL) football, has died. He was 63.
Ehin passed away after a period of serious illness. His death was confirmed to ERR by the hosts of the Estonian-language American football podcast Kaver-3.
Born in Marysville, California in 1961, Ehin began playing American football at high school, having inherited the sports bug from his father, Kalev.
Ehin senior had fled Estonia during World War Two and played football at college level himself – widely considered to be a pioneer so far as Estonians playing high-level gridiron is concerned.
Chuck followed his father's footsteps in playing the college game, at Brigham Young University.
He excelled enough to attract NFL scouts' attention, and the San Diego (now Los Angeles) Chargers drafted him in round 12 of the 1983 college draft.
Chuck Ehin in 1987, in the Chargers' dark blue uniform of the time. Source: Nflhasbeen / Wikimedia Commons.
Ehin played a total of six seasons with the Chargers, at defensive end and also nose tackle, and was one of the core players during that time. While the bolts were in somewhat of a lull period at the time and did not make the playoffs, head coach Al Saunders, brother of English soccer manager Ron, attracted attention for his innovation on offense, while Ehin's time in San Diego also coincided with the latter half of quarterback legend Dan Fouts' playing career there.
He was subsequently a squad member of the Indianapolis Colts and the Dallas Cowboys, before retiring from the game after the 1989 season.
Ehin also blazed the trail for two Estonian-born players who later reached the NFL after the restoration of independence: Michael Roos, born in Taebla, Lääne County, who played offensive tackle for the Tennessee Titans for a decade starting 2005, and Margus Hunt from Karksi-Nuia, Viljandi County, who played defensive linesman first for SMU before being drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2013.
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