Football
Football
Jessie Armstead played for the University of Miami, where the Linebacker was a key force in the Hurricanes NCAA Championship in 1989 and 1991. A torn ACL saw Armstead tumble in the 1993 Draft, but the New York Giants took him in the 8th Round, and a couple of years later, he was a starter for the G-Men.
Len Younce would miss 1942 and 1945 (as many would then), but the 1941 pick from Oregon State would be one of the most versatile players even for an era where that skill was widely coveted. Younce excelled as a Guard, Linebacker, and a Punter and was an unsung hero for the Giants, who was incredibly versatile even in an…
Dan Marino may have been one of the greatest Quarterbacks in National Football League History, but it sure helped that he had Mark Clayton lined up with to throw Touchdowns to.
A late First Round pick from Wisconsin, Travis Frederick was an immediate starter for the Dallas Cowboys when he arrived in 2013.
Vastly underappreciated throughout his 14-year career in the NFL, Henry Thomas is best known for the first half of his career with the Minnesota Vikings, the team that drafted him in 1987. Thomas was an All-Rookie at Defensive Tackle, and was equally adept at stopping the run as well as rushing the passer. Thomas was the league leader in Forced…
We have to way back for this one as Al Nesser played in the NFL from 1920 to 1931, and predated that before the NFL formed with a decade in the long-defunct Ohio League. Nesser was one of six brothers who played pro football, and he was the last player in professional football not to wear a helmet. He was…
Clem Daniels was signed as an undrafted (by both the NFL and AFL) by the Dallas Texans, but playing behind Abner Haynes in 1960 meant that you weren't going to see much playing time if you were a Halfback. Daniels was traded to the Oakland Raiders, where he worked his way into the starting rotation, and from 1962 to 1966,…
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.
From Central Florida, Josh Sitton would win the starting Right Guard for the Green Bay Packers in his second season in the league and the year after he was a big reason why they would win Super Bowl XLV. Sitton would only improve from there going to the Pro Bowl in 2012 but he switched to Left Guard in 2013…
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…
Bud McFadin had an excellent career in pro football, yet when it comes to discussing him for the Hall of Fame, his name never comes up. Perhaps it should, but we get why it doesn't.
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…
Russ Francis was the first Tight End drafted in 1975. The Oregon product went on to have two distinct careers in the NFL. Beginning his professional career with the New England Patriots, Francis's blocking ability, matched with his soft receiving hands, led him to three straight Pro Bowls (1976-78) and a Second-Team All-Pro in 1976 and 1978. This was a…
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.
Rich Saul did not accomplish that much in the first half of his career, where he bounced around the Rams O-Line for the first five years, but there was definite value in the former Michigan State Spartan. Saul would be named the starting Center in 1975, and from 1976 to 1981, he would be named to the Pro Bowl and…
Drafted in the 3rd Round from Jackson State in 1973, Gray would join a not so good New England Patriots team. Gray won a starting job as a rookie and became a fixture at Left Tackle, where he showed steady improvement annually, much like the Pats themselves. He was named to the Pro Bowl in 1976 and again in 1978,…
Many football players are large men, but few are freakishly tall. Hence the nickname of “Too Tall” for the 6’ 9” Ed Jones. Recruited at Tennessee State for basketball, Jones later turned his attention to the gridiron and was an All-American Defensive End and made history as the first HBCU player to receive the first overall pick (1974) in an…
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.
You name it, Seth Joyner could do it at Linebacker. It took a while before Joyner proved his professional worth, as the 1986 208th Overall Pick was cut in his first training camp before he was resigned. Joyner started seven games as a rookie, but was a starter afterward, where he showed an incredible body of work that allowed him…