gold star for USAHOF
 
Committee Chairman

Committee Chairman

Kirk Buchner, "The Committee Chairman", is the owner and operator of the site.  Kirk can be contacted at [email protected] .

15. Len Ford

A National Champion at Michigan in 1947, Len Ford signed with the Los Angeles Dons of the AAFC, but the Dons were not one of the teams that would be absorbed into the NFL when the two leagues merged after the 1949 Season.  The Cleveland Browns took Ford in the Dispersal Draft, who was one of the teams that the NFL did take and who won all four AAFC Titles.

Ford, who was more of a two-way End in L.A., was predominantly used on defense in Cleveland, and he aided the Browns in their 1950 NFL Championship Team.  Ford become one of the best Defensive Ends in the game, and he was chosen for four straight First Team All-Pros and Pro Bowls (1951-54) and would later be named to the 1950's All-Decade Team.  He was also integral in Cleveland's 1954 and 1955 NFL Championships.

He played with the Browns until 1957 when he was traded to Green Bay, where he played one final year.

Ford was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1976 and was an inaugural member of the Browns Ring of Honor in 2010.

From Auburn, Al Del Greco had a mediocre start in the NFL, four years with Green Bay, and four more with the St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals.  When he joined Houston (eventually Tennessee) in 1991, Del Greco was thought of more as a band-aid.  As it turned out, he became "Automatic Al."

Del Greco never made the Pro Bowl, but there were seasons where he belonged in the conversation.  With the Oilers/Titans, Del Greco never had a season where his Field Goal Percentage went below 76%, and he was in the top ten five times.  Del Greco led the NFL in Field Goals Made in 1998 (36) and was in the top ten six other years.

A member of the AFC Championship Team that made it to the Super Bowl (Del Greco made his lone FG attempt), he is currently the all-time franchise leader in Field Goals (246), Extra Points (322) and Points Scored (1,060). 

48. Al Smith

From Utah State, Al Smith played his entire 125-Game career with the Houston Oilers, an excellent career for the former Ute.

Smith was a starter as a rookie (1987), and the run-stuffer would become a Pro Bowl selection in 1991 and would be again in 1992.  The latter year saw Smith earn a First Team All-Pro honor, and overall he had 880 Tackles.

Smith was severely injured through most of his last two seasons, playing only three Games and retiring after the 1996 Season.

47. Kevin Mawae

Kevin Mawae played his first four NFL seasons with Seattle and the next eight with the New York Jets, where he had a seven-year streak of Pro Bowl Selections.  When the Jets released Mawae in 2006, the Titans were more than happy to acquire him to shore up their Offensive Line.

At Center, Mawae protected a rookie Vince Young, who had his best season in the NFL, winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year.  Young regressed, but Mawae got better as he aged, going to the Pro Bowl in both 2008 and 2009, earning a First Team All-Pro in the latter, which would be his final NFL season.  

Not a bad way to go out!

Mawae was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019.