- Bruce Smith
Bruce P. Smith (February 8, 1920 - August 28, 1967), nicknamed "Boo", was an American football player best known for winning the Heisman Trophy in 1941. Smith was born in Faribault, Minnesota where he excelled in prep football under legendary football coach Win Brockmeyer and then attended the University of Minnesota. He played halfback for the back to back national champions Gophers in 1940 and 1941. He received the Heisman two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
- Carroll Dale
Carroll Wayne Dale (born 1938 in Wise, Virginia) was an American football wide receiver. He played college football for Virginia Tech from 1956-1959. Dale was named second-team All American in 1958 and 1959. After college, Dale was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams where he played for 5 years. In 1965, Dale was traded to the Green Bay Packers. Dale played as part of the champion Packers in Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II. Dale retired from the National Football League in 1973, …
- Merlin Olsen
Merlin Jay Olsen (born September 15, 1940) is an American former National Football League player and actor. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.
- Tommy McDonald
Thomas Franklin McDonald (born July 26, 1934) is a former professional American football player. He excelled as a running back at the University of Oklahoma, where he was coached by the renowned Bud Wilkinson and never played in a losing game. He received the Maxwell Award in 1956, and was an All-American in 1955 and 1956. McDonald entered the NFL in 1957 and played for 12 years as a wide receiver.
- Roman Gabriel
Roman Ildonzo Gabriel, Jr. (born August 5, 1940 in Wilmington, North Carolina) is a former American Football player. The son of a Filipino immigrant, he was the first Asian American to start as an NFL quarterback and is considered by many to have been one of the best players at that position during the late 1960s and early 70s. At 6'4" and 235 pounds, he is considered the first truly big quarterback of the modern era.
- Dick Lane
Richard "Dick" Lane, nicknamed Night Train, was a football player, best known as a defensive back for the Detroit Lions.
- Maxie Baughan
Maxie Callaway Baughan, Jr. (born August 3, 1938 in Forkland, AL) was an American football linebacker in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams, and the Washington Redskins. Baughan played college football for Georgia Tech. In 1959 he was Georgia Tech's captain, an All-American, the Southeastern Conference Lineman of the Year, and the Most Valuable Player in the Gator Bowl. He set a Georgia Tech single-season record with 124 tackles.
- Jon Arnett
Jon Dwane Arnett (born April 20, 1935 in Los Angeles) was a first-team All-American out of USC and Manual Arts Senior High School.
- Tommy Mason
Thomas Cyril Mason (born July 8, 1939, in Lake Charles, Louisiana) was an American football player. He was selected first overall by the expansion Minnesota Vikings in the 1961 NFL Draft. In six seasons with the Vikings, he rushed for 3,252 yards and 28 touchdowns. In 1967, he was signed by the Los Angeles Rams. He played there for four years, but accumulated only 4 touchdowns and less than 900 yards.
- Jack Pardee
John Perry Pardee (born April 19, 1936 in Exira, Iowa) is a former American football linebacker and head coach in the National Football League. As a teenager moved to Christoval, Texas where he excelled as a member of the 6 man football team, was an All-American linebacker at Texas A&M University, a two-time All-Pro with the Los Angeles Rams (1963) and Washington Redskins (1971), a 2-time NFL Coach of Year (1976,79), and winner of 87 games in 11 seasons.
- Clendon Thomas
Clendon Thomas (born December 28 1935 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is a former American football halfback who played ten seasons in the National Football League. In college, he was a star athlete for the Oklahoma Sooners under legendary coach Bud Wilkinson. He led the Sooners in scoring in 1956 and led the nation in scoring in 1957. He helped lead the Sooners to back-to-back national championships in 1955 and 1956.
- Les Richter
Les Richter (born October 26 1930 in Fresno, California) is a former Los Angeles Rams NFL football player turned auto racing president of the Riverside International Raceway.
- Tom Moore
Tom Moore (born July 17, 1938 in Goodlettsville, Tennessee) is a former professional American football player who played running back for eight seasons in the NFL. He went to the Pro Bowl after the 1962 season.
- Jim Phillips
Jim "Red" Phillips (born February 5, 1936, in Alexander City, Alabama) is a former American Football wide receiver who played for the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings for 10 seasons from 1958 to 1967. Phillips was a three-time Pro Bowler as a Ram from 1960 to 1962. Phillips attended Auburn University.
- Irv Cross
Irvin Acie Cross (b. July 27 1939) is a former professional American football player and commentator. In 1961, Cross was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the seventh round of the National Football League (NFL) draft. Later in 1966 he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams. Then in 1969, he returned to the Eagles and became a player/coach. He retired from playing football in 1970, when he became just a coach for the Eagles.
- Bob Demarco
Robert DeMarco (born September 16, 1938 in Jersey City, New Jersey) is a former American football center who played fifteen seasons in the National Football League for four teams.
- Dick Bass
Richard Lee Bass (March 15, 1937 - February 1, 2006) was an American football running back who played for the Los Angeles Rams from 1960 to 1969. Born in Georgetown, Mississippi, he played for Vallejo High School in the old North Bay League after his family moved to Vallejo, California. He went on to star at College of the Pacific, where Time Magazine called him a "One-Man Show" in 1958, …
- Kermit Alexander
Kermit Alexander (born January 4, 1941 in New Iberia, Louisiana) was a defensive back in the NFL. In his career, he played for the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams, and the Philadelphia Eagles. Kermit made a memorable hit on Gale Sayers that tore his ligaments in his knee and ended his season in 1968, which played a role in Brian Piccolo helping Sayers to recover from the injury. In 1984, Kermit Alexander's mother, Ebora Alexander, his sister, Dietra Alexander, …
- Richie Petitbon
Richard Alvin Petitbon (born April 18, 1938 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is a former American football safety and head coach of the Washington Redskins of the NFL. After playing college football at Tulane University, he played for the Chicago Bears from 1959 to 1968, the Los Angeles Rams in 1969 and 1970, and the Washington Redskins in 1971 and 1972. A successful defensive coordinator under Gibbs, he did not find the same success as a head coach.
- Lou Michaels
Lou Michaels was an American football player who was a standout defensive lineman for the University of Kentucky Wildcats and later played pro football for 14 years, 1958-1971, with the Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Colts and Green Bay Packers of the National Football League. He also excelled as a placekicker, and was selected to the Pro Bowl after the 1962 and 1963 seasons. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1992.
- Del Shofner
Delbert Martin Shofner (born December 11, 1934) is a former American Football wide receiver who played for eleven seasons with the Los Angeles Rams and the New York Giants from 1957 to 1967 in the National Football League. Shofner was a five time Pro Bowler in 1958, 1959, and from 1961 to 1963. Shofner played college football in Baylor University and was also a punter early in his pro football career.
- Frank Ryan
Frank Beall Ryan, Ph.D. (born July 12, 1936 in Fort Worth, Texas) is a retired American football quarterback in the NFL who played for the Los Angeles Rams (1958-1961), Cleveland Browns (1962-1968) and Washington Redskins (1969-1970). Although he led the Browns to their last National Football League title in 1964, Ryan is best remembered for being perhaps the only Ph.D. in mathematics to play in the league.
- Bill Wade
William James Wade (born October 4, 1930 in Nashville, Tennessee) is a former professional American football quarterback. He is best known for being the starting quarterback on the Chicago Bears' 1963 NFL championship team. Born in Vanderbilt Hospital one of two sons of former 1921 Vanderbilt football captain, William J. Wade, Sr. Wade began his athletic career at Woodmont Grammar School in Nashville, TN where he played guard rather than quarterback.
- Pat Studstill
Pat Studstill (born June 4, 1938 in Shreveport, Louisiana) is a former NFL punter and wide receiver from (1961-1972) for the Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots. Pat really came into his own in '66. Despite his size he was second in the NFL with 67 receptions and led the League with 1266 air yards. One of his five TDs was a 97 yarder which tied a League record. He is also a punter.
- John Morrow
John Morrow (born April 27, 1933 in Port Huron, Michigan) was a center who played seven professional seasons with the NFL Cleveland Browns. Morrow attended the University of Michigan.
- Jesse Whittenton
Jesse Whittenton (born May 9, 1934) was an American football player.
- Frank Varrichione
Frank Varrichione (born January 14, 1932 in Natick, Massachusetts) is a former American football tackle who played eleven seasons in the National Football League, mainly for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
- Danny Villanueva
Daniel Dario Villanueva (born November 5, 1937 in Tucumcari, New Mexico) was an NFL kicker and punter from 1960-1967.
- Roger Brown
Roger Lee Brown (born 1 May 1937 in Surry County, Virginia) is a former American football defensive tackle who retired after the 1969 NFL season.
- John Lovetere
John LoVetere (born May 31, 1936 in Boston, Massachusetts) was a defensive tackle who played seven seasons in the National Football League,
- Myron Pottios
Myron Joseph Pottios (born January 18, 1939 in Van Voorhis, Pennsylvania) was an American football linebacker in the NFL for the Washington Redskins, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football for the University of Notre Dame.
- Bernie Casey
Bernard Terry Casey (born June 8, 1939 in Wyco, West Virginia) was an American Football player during the 1960s who later became an actor. Some years later, in a piece for NFL Films, he expressed his disillusionment with the NFL and professional sports in general, feeling like his creativity and individuality were thwarted by conservative elements in the league and ownership hierarchy. He does not look back fondly on his pro football experience.
- Joe Marconi
Joe Marconi (February 6, 1934 - August 23, 1992) was a professional football player for the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Bears. Marconi was born in the Pittsburgh area city of Fredericktown, Pennsylvania. He played football in high school and was offered an athletic scholarship at the University of Maryland, but he didn't like the school and found himself at West Virginia University.
- Deacon Jones
David D. "Deacon" Jones (born December 9, 1938 in Eatonville, Florida) nicknamed "Secretary of Defense" is an American athlete and actor. Born in Eatonville, Florida, Jones played professional football and is considered to be one of the greatest defensive ends of all time. Jones specialized in quarterback sacks, a term attributed to him. An extremely durable player, Jones missed only six games of a possible 196 regular-season encounters in his 14 NFL seasons.
- Eric Dickerson
Eric Demetric Dickerson (born September 2 1960 in Sealy, Texas) is a former professional running back in the National Football League (NFL) who in his career played for the Los Angeles Rams, Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Raiders, and Atlanta Falcons.
- Pervis Atkins
Pervis R. Atkins (born November 24, 1935 in Ruston, Louisiana)was an American football player. He played college football at New Mexico State University, where he was a halfback, flanker, and placekicker. He played professionally in the American Football League for the Oakland Raiders in 1965 and 1966. He had previously played for the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins.
- Joe Namath
Joseph William "Joe Willie" Namath (born May 31, 1943), also known as Broadway Joe, was an American football Hall of Fame quarterback in the American Football League and National Football League during the 1960s and 1970's. Namath played for the New York Jets for most of his career. He finished out his career with the Los Angeles Rams. Namath retired with a record of 77 wins, 108 losses and 3 ties.
- Ron Jaworski
Ronald Vincent "Jaws" Jaworski (born March 23 1951 in Lackawanna, New York) is a former American football player and currently an NFL analyst on ESPN. He is referred as the "King of Tape Breakdown" with his ability to break down every single plays and notice drop offs in production. Unconfirmed rumors reveal his use of a hair piece.
- Bill Curry
Bill Curry (born October 21, 1942) is a former NFL football player and NCAA football coach. He currently works as a football analyst for ESPN and the director of the Leadership Baylor program at Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is noted for his knowledge of offensive line play.
- Tom Fears
Thomas Jesse Fears (December 3, 1923 - January 4, 2000) was an American football wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams in the National Football League, playing nine seasons from 1948 to 1956. Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Fears was the son of an American mining engineer who had married a Mexican woman, and moved with his family to Los Angeles at the age of six. There, he began to display his ample work ethic by unloading flowers for 25 cents an hour, …