| Birth Date: | December 4, 1948 |
| Birth Place: | Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Number: | 18 |
| Position: | Wide receiver |
| Height Ft: | 5 |
| Height In: | 10 |
| Weight Lb: | 176 |
| College: | Golden West JC Stanford |
| Draftyear: | 1971 |
| Draftround: | 17 |
| Draftpick: | 418 |
| Pastteams: | |
| Highlights: |
|
| Statlabel1: | Receptions |
| Statvalue1: | 188 |
| Statlabel2: | Receiving yards |
| Statvalue2: | 3,164 |
| Statlabel3: | Receiving TDs |
| Statvalue3: | 23 |
| Pfr: | VataRa00 |
Randel Edward Vataha, (born December 4, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the New England Patriots. He played college football for the Stanford Indians (now Cardinal). Vataha was selected in the 17th round of the 1971 NFL draft and spent the first six years of his NFL career with New England. He finished his career after a season with the Green Bay Packers.
Born in Santa Monica, California, Vataha lettered in four sports at Rancho Alamitos High School in Garden Grove; he was a quarterback in football and graduated
Vataha made the transition to wide receiver at Golden West Junior College in then transferred up the coast to Stanford of the Pacific-8 Conference in 1969 under head coach John Ralston and became one of quarterback Jim Plunkett's favorite receiving targets. As seniors in 1970, they connected on a 96-yard touchdown a Stanford record which stood until 1999 (by a 98-yard pass from Joe Borchard to Troy Walters).[1]
At the end of that season, Vataha scored the last touchdown in Stanford's upset of #2 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, a ten-yard pass from Plunkett with eight minutes both are members of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame. Plunkett won the Heisman Trophy and was the first pick of the 1971 NFL draft; Stanford climbed to eighth in the final AP poll with a
Vataha was nicknamed "Rabbit" for his moves on the field and worked one summer at Disneyland in costume as one of the
Vataha, along with Stanley Morgan, was one of two wide receivers named to the New England Patriots 1970’s All-Decade Team.[4]
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | |||
| NWE | 14 | 13 | 51 | 872 | 17.1 | 88 | 9 | ||
| NWE | 14 | 14 | 25 | 369 | 14.8 | 44 | 2 | ||
| NWE | 14 | 4 | 20 | 341 | 17.1 | 48 | 2 | ||
| NWE | 12 | 10 | 25 | 561 | 22.4 | 59 | 3 | ||
| NWE | 14 | 14 | 46 | 720 | 15.7 | 47 | 6 | ||
| NWE | 12 | 8 | 11 | 192 | 17.5 | 44 | 1 | ||
| GNB | 6 | 3 | 10 | 109 | 10.9 | 20 | 0 | ||
| 86 | 66 | 188 | 3,164 | 16.8 | 88 | 23 | |||
After retiring from football, Vataha was a founding member of the United States Football League (USFL) in 1983, owning 50% of the Boston Breakers. He is now the president of Game Plan LLC, a company that specializes in the buying and selling of professional