Football
Football
Dave Butz was a good player for a long time. That statement is a simple way to begin, but it is true. He was with the St. Louis Cardinals for the first two seasons of his career (1973-74) and would then be traded to the Washington Redskins, where he was considered a solid player for years. Something clicked in 1982,…
Ed Danowski would join the New York Giants after a successful college career at Fordham, and it was in New York where he would play his entire professional career. Danowski was a top Back in the last half of the 1930s, and he would earn a pair of First Team All-Pro Selections in 1935 and 1938. He was the primary…
Drafted in 1943 in the 14th Round from William & Mary, Buster Ramsey would not join the NFL until 1946 (due to World War II). He would play all six of seasons in the league with the Chicago Cardinals (the team that drafted him), and in 1947 he would help them win the NFL Championship. He was named an All-Pro…
Playing his college ball at the University of Tennessee, Beattie Feathers would have an incredible rookie season with the Chicago Bears where in 1934 he would become the first 1,000 Yard rusher (though there are some football historians who dispute the accuracy) and he would also lead the league in All-Purpose Yards and Yards from Scrimmage and was a First…
Dennis Harrah would play his entire 13-year career with the Los Angeles Rams, where the former Miami Hurricane would be named to six Pro Bowls. That accolade would happen in two separate three-year increments (1978-80 & 1985-87), and the Offensive Guard would be named a First Team All-Pro in 1986. Harrah was also chosen for the Los Angeles Rams 40th…
Drafted 3rd Overall in 1984 from Michigan State, the New York Giants would have a longtime fixture in their Linebacking corps in Carl Banks. Banks was an All-Rookie Selection, and he would later be named to the Pro Bowl and was a First Team All-Pro in 1987, the year after he was a large part of their Super Bowl XXI…
From Howard Payne, Ken Gray is arguably the best NFL player to ever come out of that small institution. Gray played predominantly at Offensive Guard and was with the Chicago/St. Louis Cardinals for 12 of his 13 seasons, where he was a 6th Round Pick in 1958. Gray was a six-time Pro Bowl Selection and was twice chosen to be…
Frank Cope was a member of the 1930's All-Decade Team, although most of his career took place in the 1940s.
Lawrence McCutcheon was a better than you remember Running Back, who spent his entire the best years of his NFL career with the Los Angeles Rams.
E.J. Holub was an All-American at Texas Tech, where he was such a great player that the Red Raiders would later retire his number. Drafted 6th Overall by the Dallas Texans in 1961, Holub played at Linebacker, and in the first five of his six years, he was an AFL All-Star and was named a First Team All-Pro in both…
James Farrior was drafted 8th Overall by the New York Jets in 1997, and he did well for New York in the five years he played there, though it can be argued that he did not achieve what the Jets hoped for when they drafted him so high. He did, however, show some of that promise in his last year…
A defensive superstar from the University of Wisconsin, the Miami Dolphins, drafted Troy Vincent 7th Overall in 1992. Vincent would immediately become the starting Left Cornerback and played well for Miami in the four seasons he was there. That was a good start, but it was later as a Philadelphia Eagle where he shined.
Mel Gray began his career in the USFL for two seasons, and after that league folded, he joined the New Orleans Saints, who had chosen him earlier in a supplemental draft of USFL players. Gray would later join the Detroit Lions, and it was there where he would be named a four-time Pro Bowl Selection and was regarded as one…
One of the most prolific tacklers in the history of the Atlanta Falcons, Keith Brooking, was drafted from Georgia Tech 12th overall in 1998. While he was not an immediate starter, he found a home in Atlanta’s Nickel Defense and was a part of their run to Super Bowl XXXIII.
In terms of Centers, there are few Professional Football players who can say that they are as successful as Bart Oates. After being undrafted at BYU in 1983, Oates would join the Philadelphia Stars of the USFL, and he would win championships with them in 1984 and 1985. When the USFL folded, he signed with the New York Giants, where…
Considered to be one of the last great finds before the modern era of scouting, Willie Galimore was a 5th Round Draft Pick in 1957 from Florida A&M. Galimore was one of the quickest players in college, and that was the case when he went pro with the Chicago Bears. Galimore would play seven seasons in the NFL, all with…
Jerry Norton began his professional football career in 1954 with the Philadelphia Eagles, where he started as a Safety, then performed as a Half Back, then back to Safety again. Norton was also an excellent Punter, and in 1957 he would lead the league in Punts and Punting Yards. He would be traded to the Chicago Cardinals (which would become…
Debuting for the San Francisco 49ers as a Second Round Pick from UCLA in 1976, Randy Cross played his entire 13-year career with the Niners, where he would help them win three Super Bowls.
Chris Samuels was the Outland Trophy winner at the University of Alabama, and the Washington Redskins chose him 3rd Overall in 2000. It turned out to be an excellent choice, and Washington would be the only team that Samuels played for in his ten-year career.