Football
Football
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…
Derrick Johnson played all but his last season of his career with the Kansas City Chiefs and the former 1stRound Pick from Texas would slowly work his way to the upper echelon of NFL Linebackers and he would be named to four Pro Bowls out of five from 2011 to 2015. Johnson, who was also named a First Team All-Pro in…
In an earlier entry, we looked at the candidacy of William Heffelfinger, who predated the NFL by decades and was the first paid Pro Football player. Charles Follis would make similar history as the first African-American Pro Football player.
A First Round Pick from Washington State in 1984, Keith Millard made the team that drafted him (Minnesota) wait a year, as he went into the USFL for one season with the Jacksonville Bulls.
Dennis Smith was one of the best Defensive Backs in the history of the Denver Broncos.
One of the best Place Kickers of his day, David Akers, had to wait for a little to prove his worth in the NFL. Akers was undrafted out of Louisville in 1997, and after trying out for the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers, he was signed by the Washington Redskins but played only one game and missed both Field Goals…
Ray Wietecha played his entire 10-year NFL career with the New York Giants, where he was the literal centerpiece (he played Center) of a robust Offensive Line. Helping the G-Men to an NFL Championship in 1956, Wietecha would have better individual seasons after going to four Pro Bowls and earning a First Team All-Pro nod. In his last season (1962),…
