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Chris Farasopoulos (born July 20, 1949) is a former American football player, Brigham Young alumnus and retired business executive.
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| Born: | July 20, 1949 Piraeus, Greece |
|---|---|
| Career information | |
| Position(s) | Defensive back |
| College | Brigham Young |
| NFL draft | 1971, round: 3 / Pick 58 |
| Career history | |
| As player | |
| 1971–1973 | New York Jets |
| 1974 | New Orleans Saints |
After his graduation from North Torrance High School, he was selected 79th overall in the fourth round by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1967 Major League Baseball draft.[1] The second baseman chose not to accept the Orioles' $5,000 offer. He explained, "I might have signed except that the Orioles' scout wanted to change my name to something like Faras. That infuriated me. It was like offering to take only half of me."[2] He added, "If the Orioles wanted me, they had to take all of me."[3][citation needed]
He chose instead to accept a full and guaranteed football scholarship from Brigham Young University where he was hailed as "the Galloping Greek" by the Arizona Republic. Best known[according to whom?] for his agility and speed at BYU, Farasopoulos played defensive back as well as punt and kickoff return. In 1968, he set a Western Athletic Conference record for average yards returned per kickoff at 27.2, a record that stood until Chad Owens's 29.4 average yards per return years later.
After selecting John Riggins and John Mooring in the first and second rounds of the 1971 NFL draft, the New York Jets chose Farasopoulos in the third round with the 58th pick overall. During his rookie season, he began a lasting friendship with teammates Riggins and Burgess Owens . All three were known for the spirit they contributed to the New York Jets team.[according to whom?] Later in his career Farasopoulos played for the New Orleans Saints.
Farasopoulos holds a BS in human performance from Brigham Young University and spent 13 years at Integrated Device Technology Inc. in various operations management positions both at IDT's Technology Center and IDT's Static RAM Division in Salinas, California. Before joining IDT, Farasopoulos held management positions at VLSI Technology Inc. and National Semiconductor. Most recently Farasopoulos was responsible for customer operations and business development as vice president with QuickSil of Fremont, California.
Farasopoulos is the only son of Vasilios Farasopoulos and Theodora Farasopoulos. Farasopoulos is married, has three daughters (two of whom are twins) and lives with his family in California.
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