Pro Football Historian (PFH) is a blog page written by Flint Given. Pro Football Historian or PFH is a page to inform people on prior NFL events that people might not know about. Learning about teams from the 1920s or even the first few NFL World Championships in the 1930s fascinates me. It's these kinds of events that I want to discuss in this blog. Hopefully you are interested and will continue to check up on my blogs.
Lemuel Jackson Barney is an American former football cornerback and return specialist who played for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League from 1967 to 1977, playing occasionally as punter as well. He played college football for the Jackson State Tigers from 1964 to 1966. He was selected by the Lions in the 1967 NFL/AFL draft and played. He was selected as the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1967, played in seven Pro Bowls, and was selected as a first-team All-NFL player in 1968 and 1969. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992. He has also been inducted into the Detroit Lions Hall of Fame, the Jackson State Sports Hall of Fame, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.
Barney was selected by the Detroit Lions in the second round, 34th overall pick, of the 1967 NFL Draft. As a rookie in 1967, Barney appeared in all 14 games as a starting cornerback and led the NFL with 10 interceptions, 232 interception return yards and three interceptions returned for touchdowns. After an injury to Pat Studstill, Barney also took over as the Lions' punter, punting 47 times for an average of 37.4 yards in 1967. On September 17, 1967, in the first quarter of his first NFL game, Barney intercepted the first pass thrown in his direction by Bart Starr and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown. In the final game of his rookie season, Barney intercepted three passes within ten minutes and returned one 71 yards for a touchdown. At the end of the 1967 season, he was selected by the Associated Press as the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.
After the 1967 season, Barney played in the 1968 Pro Bowl, and in the off-season, he was married and also served six months of active duty in the Navy.
Barney went on to be selected to seven Pro Bowls and was selected as a first-team All-NFL player in 1968 and 1969. During his 11 years in the NFL, Barney had 56 interceptions, 1,011 interception return yards, and seven interceptions returned for touchdowns. He also returned 143 punts for 1,312 yards and three touchdowns as well as 50 kickoff returns for 1,274 yards, including a 98-yard return for touchdown.
In March 1978, as part of a wiretap investigation into international drug smuggling, Barney's voice was heard allegedly discussing cocaine and amphetamines. Although investigators stated that Barney was not the focus of the investigation, the controversy received extensive press attention through the spring of 1978, as Barney was called to testify before a New York grand jury.
In August 1978, the Lions placed Barney on the injured waiver list. Barney's efforts to sign with another team were unsuccessful, and he did not play during the 1978 season. He was officially released by the Lions in February 1979.
Barney is an accomplished singer who began singing with choirs in his youth and college. He befriended Motown recording artist Marvin Gaye, when Gaye unsuccessfully tried out for the Lions in 1970. Barney and teammate Mel Farr sang background vocals on Gaye's classic 1971 song "What's Going On". In 2015, Barney was invited to sing the national anthem at the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Barney also had a brief acting career, beginning with a self-portrayal in the 1968 comedy, Paper Lion. In 1973, he was one of the stars of the blaxploitation biker film, The Black Six.
Barney and his wife, Martha, had a daughter, LaTrece, and a son, Lem III. After retiring from the NFL, Barney worked for many years, starting in 1979, in public affairs for Michigan Consolidated Gas Company. He also worked in the 1980s as a football broadcaster on BET and on pre-season games for the Detroit Lions.
In March 1993, after his car crashed into a guardrail on a Detroit freeway, Barney was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and possession of cocaine and marijuana. He was found not guilty of the drug charges following a jury trial in 1994.
In 2006, Barney published an autobiography titled, "The Supernatural: Lem Barney".
He held a public relations post at the Detroit Medical Center starting in 2006. After being fired from that position, he filed an age discrimination lawsuit in 2013. Also in 2013, Barney publicly declared that, in light of revelations about brain injuries resulting from football, he would not play football if he had the chance to live his life over again and predicted that the game of football would be gone in another 20 years.
Jan Stenerud is a Norwegian-American former football placekicker who played in the National Football League and American Football League (AFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Kansas City Chiefs. The first Norwegian NFL player, he played college football for the Montana State Bobcats and earned All-American honors. Stenerud began his career in the AFL after being selected by the Chiefs during the 1966 draft and joined the NFL following the AFL–NFL merger. Along with his 13 seasons in Kansas City, Stenerud was a member of the Green Bay Packers for four seasons and the Minnesota Vikings for two seasons until retiring in 1985.
Stenerud was a six-time all-star (four NFL Pro Bowls and two AFL All-Star games) during his career, as well as a four-time first-team All-Pro in the NFL and a two-time first-team All-AFL. The season prior to the AFL–NFL merger, he also helped the Chiefs win their first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl IV. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991 as the first exclusive placekicker to receive the honor.
Stenerud was one of the first professional football players to be used as a dedicated kicker, because of his excellent "sharpshooting" ball-kicking performance. He was one of the first placekickers to use the "soccer style", a technique the Hungarian-born Pete Gogolak had recently introduced in the AFL. During his first three years as professional, the last seasons for the AFL, Stenerud hit 70% of his field goals, compared with a 53% average for the other kickers in the AFL and NFL.
The Chiefs were the final AFL champions in 1969, and they met the NFL Champion Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV in New Orleans. The underdog Chiefs won 23–7, and Stenerud kicked three field goals, scoring the first nine points of the game. His first, a 48-yarder, was the longest field goal in a Super Bowl for 24 years, exceeded by Steve Christie of the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVIII in January 1994.
On Christmas Day 1971, the Chiefs hosted the Miami Dolphins in an AFC divisional playoff game. In perhaps his toughest day as a professional, Stenerud made a 24-yard field goal in the first quarter, but then missed from 29 and 32 yards, the latter with 35 seconds remaining in regulation, and had a 42-yarder blocked three minutes into overtime.[8] The Dolphins won 27–24 in double overtime, on a 37-yard field goal by Garo Yepremian.[9][10] The game, also the last the Chiefs played in Kansas City's Municipal Stadium, remains the longest in NFL history as of 2023, at 82 minutes, 40 seconds of playing time.
Stenerud retired after the 1985 season, his 19th (3 AFL, 16 NFL). He converted 373 out of 558 field goals (67 percent) and 580 out of 601 extra points (97%) for a total of 1,699 points scored. At the time of his retirement, he was the longest-tenured (19 years) professional football player to have played in the AFL.
Enshrined in 1991, Stenerud, along with George Blanda, Lou Groza, Ray Guy, and 2017 inductee Morten Andersen, is one of only five kicking specialists in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and is one of three who did not play another position (Blanda played quarterback, Groza was a tackle). The Chiefs retired Stenerud's jersey number 3 in his honor. In 1994, he was selected to the NFL's 75th Anniversary Team.
In recent years, Stenerud has been involved in a Kansas City firm involved in designing stadiums and sports arenas. He also worked as a commentator for Scandinavian TV channel TV3's Super Bowl Sunday coverage in the 1990s, and still maintains strong ties with his native Norway. The street where he grew up, in the municipality Fetsund, was renamed in his honor.
Texas Earnest Schramm Jr. was an American football executive who was the original president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys franchise of the National Football League. Schramm, usually referred to as "Tex", became the head of the Cowboys when the former expansion team started operations in 1960.Despite his name, Schramm was not born in Texas, but in San Gabriel, California. Texas was his father's name and where his parents met. Schramm attended Alhambra High School and went to the University of Texas, graduating in 1947 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. At UT he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, as was his father. Schramm interrupted his education to serve as an officer in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.
Before joining the Cowboys, Schramm was part of the Los Angeles Rams from 1947 to 1956. During his tenure, he hired Pete Rozelle as the Rams' public relations director, who would eventually become the Commissioner of the National Football League. They remained close friends after Rozelle became NFL commissioner and Schramm became general manager of the Cowboys (each holding his position for 29 years).
In late 1959, when it became apparent that the NFL was intent on expanding to Dallas, Schramm told his friends in football that he was interested in running the team. Chicago Bears owner George Halas introduced Schramm to Clint Murchison Jr., who had tried to bring the NFL to Dallas several times in the past. Murchison hired Schramm as the general manager for a potential Dallas team, which became a reality when the league awarded a franchise to the city on January 28, 1960.
In 1960, Schramm hired head coach Tom Landry and chief scout Gil Brandt. By the mid-1960s, the three men had built the Cowboys into an elite team. The Cowboys, despite two consecutive losses to the Green Bay Packers in the NFL Championship Game in 1966 and '67, had 20 consecutive winning seasons, and won the most games of any NFL team of the 1970s. They appeared in five Super Bowls that decade, winning Super Bowls VI and XII, and losing Super Bowls V, X, and XIII by a combined 11 points. The Cowboys became a marquee NFL franchise, their popularity inspiring the nickname "America's Team".
In 1966, Schramm met secretly with American Football League (AFL) founder Lamar Hunt to begin the negotiations that led to the 1970 merger of the NFL and AFL, as well as the first Super Bowl in 1967.
Schramm was known as the most powerful general manager in the NFL. The Cowboys' owners during his tenure, Murchison (1960–84) and Bum Bright (1984–1988), largely left day-to-day operations in his hands. Schramm represented the Cowboys at league meetings and exercised the team's voting rights, something normally reserved for team owners.
Schramm was a leading opponent of the 1987 NFLPA Strike. The NFL players union at the time were agitating for a better deal, including free agency rights. Schramm, with other owners, organized the hiring of replacement players while the usual players were on strike, earning a nickname of "the commissioner of replacement football". Schramm cattily said to executive director of the NFLPA Gene Upshaw "Gene, here’s what you have to understand: we're the ranchers and you're the cattle, and we can always get more cattle." Schramm was comparatively effective in convincing regular players of the Cowboys to cross the picket line, albeit at the cost of splitting the team; he aggressively used contract clauses as threats to revoke millions of dollars in annuity payments from players who would not return to work. Running back Tony Dorsett, who had previously criticized other team members for breaking the strike, felt he was financially forced to rejoin as well by Schramm's threats. Eventually 21 Cowboys players would break the strike and play with replacement players, a much higher rate than for other teams in the League; the Cowboys went 2-1 during the three strike-affected games. The cost of Schramm's threats to the team's success was high: The Cowboys would only go 8–35 over the next two and a half seasons, not recovering until new ownership took over.
Schramm was known for advocating for a number of changes and innovations that helped modernize the NFL. These include instant replay, using computer technology in scouting, multi-color striping of the 20- and 50-yard lines, 30-second clock between plays, extra-wide sideline borders, wind-direction stripes on the goal post uprights, the referee's microphone, headsets in the quarterback's helmet for hearing plays, and hiring Dee Brock to establish the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. While leading the league's Competition Committee, he oversaw rule changes such as using overtime in the regular season, putting the official time on the scoreboard, moving goalposts from the front of the end zone to the back, and protecting quarterbacks through the in-the-grasp rule. Schramm's desire for a more comprehensive scouting combine led to the annual offseason NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. Don Shula said of Schramm, "I truly believe he had as much, or more, to do with the success of professional football as anyone who has ever been connected with the league."
Schramm stayed on only briefly with the Cowboys after Jerry Jones purchased the team and fired Tom Landry. He left to become the president of the World League of American Football. Schramm was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991. Schramm's entry into the Cowboys Ring of Honor took much longer due to strained relations with Jones. Schramm had created the Ring of Honor, and had been a "one-man committee" on inductions. Jones became that "committee" when he took over. Finally in 2003, Jones announced that Schramm would be inducted into the ring during the next football season. Schramm attended the announcement press conference and spoke, but died a few months later and was inducted posthumously.
Schramm married his high school sweetheart, Martha Anne Snowden, in 1941. Martha Schramm died on December 8, 2002. The couple had three daughters.
Stanley Paul Jones was an American football guard and defensive tackle who played in the National Football League for the Chicago Bears and the Washington Redskins. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991. Jones is credited as the first professional player to use weight training to improve his conditioning for football.
Jones was drafted in the fifth round of the 1953 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears and started in 1954 as an offensive tackle. In 1955, Jones switched to guard and, for the next eight seasons, was a fixture at that position and one of the NFL's most highly respected guards.
When the Bears needed help on defense in 1962, assistant coach George Allen decided that Jones could help at defensive tackle. He played both ways in 1962 and then switched to defensive tackle permanently in 1963.
After 1965, Bears coach George Halas agreed, as a favor to Jones, to trade him to the Washington Redskins so that he could play a final season near his home in Rockville, Maryland. He retired after the 1966 season.
Jones missed only two games his first 11 seasons, was an All-Pro guard in 1955, 1956, 1959, and 1960, and played in seven straight Pro Bowls following the 1955 through 1961 seasons. He has also been credited as the first professional player to use weight training for football conditioning.
After playing football, Jones became an assistant coach for the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, and the New England Patriots. He later went back to work, this time as a defensive line coach for the Scottish Claymores of NFL Europe.
During the mid-1950s Jones also worked in the off-season teaching physical education in the Montgomery County elementary schools.
Jones is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame. In 1977, he made the Atlantic Coast Conference 25-year team. Jones died on May 21, 2010, from complications of a stroke. He had a heart attack which triggered his death. Jones was also named to the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.
John Allen Hannah, nicknamed "Hog", is an American former football guard who played in the National Football League for 13 seasons with the New England Patriots. He played college football at the University of Alabama, where he twice received All-American honors, and was selected fourth overall by the Patriots in the 1973 NFL Draft. Named by Sports Illustrated magazine in 1981 as "the best offensive lineman of all time", Hannah received nine Pro Bowl and seven first-team All-Pro selections. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999. In 1991 he became the inaugural inductee of the New England Patriots Hall of Fame.
Hannah joined the Patriots in 1973 as the 4th overall pick in the 1973 NFL Draft. He played his entire professional career in New England. While considered somewhat short by NFL standards, Hannah made up for this with great speed and quickness as well as powerful legs. Hannah excelled as a pass protector, as a run blocker, and as the pulling guard on sweeps. Hannah's commitment to football was very high and he expected the same from each of his teammates, sometimes becoming quite angry if he felt they were not complying. Hannah started the first 13 games of his rookie season of 1973 until a freak leg injury forced him to miss the final game of the year. Along with tackle Leon Gray, the two formed what was generally considered the best guard/tackle tandem in the NFL during the mid to late 1970s. Gray and Hannah also combined with tight end Russ Francis to form one of the strongest left-side trios in the league. Hannah anchored the 1978 offensive line that set an NFL record with 3,165 rushing yards. The record breaking rushing attack of New England did not have a single 1,000 rusher, but did have four players run for more than 500 yards including quarterback Steve Grogan. The team rushing record would eventually be broken by the Baltimore Ravens some four decades later, but the 1978 Patriots also set a league record with 181 rushing first-downs, which still stands as of 2022.
Hannah missed only five games out of a possible 191 because of injuries during his career. He also missed the first three games of the 1977 season when he and Gray held out because of contract disputes. In the 1985 season Hannah helped guide the team to its first AFC title and Super Bowl appearance. Hannah retired from the NFL after playing in Super Bowl XX.
Hannah was named to ten consecutive All-Pro teams (1976–1985), and was named All-AFC 11 times (1974, 1976–1985). He was also selected to play in 9 Pro Bowls. He was voted the Seagram's Seven Crowns of Sports Offensive Lineman of the Year in 1978 and 1980 and won the NFLPA/Coca-Cola Offensive Lineman of the Year Award (voted on by NFL players) three times in four years (1978–1979, 1981). Hannah was also the winner of the Mack Truck Award for offensive line play five consecutive times (1977–81). He is also one of the few players to have been named to two different NFL All-Decade Teams (for the 1970s and 1980s). In 1994, he was then selected to the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team as the #1 guard on the team. In 2019, Hannah was then selected to the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
In 1991, he became the first Patriots player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In 1999, he was ranked number 20 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, the highest-ranking Patriot, the highest-ranking guard, and the second-ranked offensive lineman behind Anthony Muñoz. In 1991, he became the first player to be inducted into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame.
Hannah became an assistant coach at Governor Dummer Academy in Massachusetts, leaving to accept the head coaching job at Somerville High School in 2004. While concurrently serving as the city's youth development coordinator, Hannah led the Somerville team through one winless season. He left to become a special assistant coach at his alma mater, Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2005. He resigned from his coaching position at the conclusion of Baylor's 2005 football season.
Hannah's brothers Charley and David were also All-Conference linemen for the University of Alabama. Charley Hannah played in the NFL from 1977 to 1988 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Los Angeles Raiders. Charley was a member of the Super Bowl XVIII winning Raiders.
In the summer of 1972 after his junior year, Hannah married his high school sweetheart, Page Pickens, an Alabama cheerleader. They later had a son and a daughter who were raised in Boston.
Earl Christian Campbell, nicknamed "the Tyler Rose", is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League for the Houston Oilers and the New Orleans Saints. Known for his aggressive, punishing running style and ability to break tackles, Campbell gained recognition as one of the best power running backs in NFL history.
Campbell played college football for the Texas Longhorns, where he won the Heisman Trophy and earned unanimous All-American honors in his senior season, as well as numerous other accolades. Campbell was selected first overall by the Oilers in the 1978 NFL Draft, and had an immediate impact in the league, earning NFL Rookie of the Year honors. Campbell was also named the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year in each of his first three seasons, during which he averaged nearly 1,700 rushing yards per season. Campbell won the AP NFL Most Valuable Player Award in 1979 after leading the league in rushing yards and touchdowns.
With head coach Bum Phillips, Campbell's emergence in Houston coincided with the Luv Ya Blue era, a period of sustained success in which the Oilers made three straight playoff appearances. Campbell became the centerpiece of Houston's offense during the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was traded to the Saints six games into the 1984 season, where he spent his final season and a half before retiring. Campbell was inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame (1990) and Pro Football Hall of Fame (1991). In 2019, he was named to the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. Campbell's jersey number is retired by the University of Texas and the Tennessee Titans.
Campbell was the first overall draft pick in the 1978 NFL Draft, selected by the Houston Oilers, who signed him to a six-year, $1.4 million contract. The Oilers obtained the pick from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by trading tight end Jimmie Giles, their first and second round picks in the 1978 Draft, and their third and fifth round picks in the 1979 Draft. "This is a commitment to excellence," said Oilers head coach Bum Phillips. "It takes a great running back to have a winning football team and this kid is a great running back." After rushing for a league-leading and rookie record 1,450 yards, Campbell was named the Offensive Rookie of the Year by the Sporting News and Associated Press (AP). He was also named the AFC Offensive Player of the Year by United Press International (UPI), NFL Offensive Player of the Year by the AP,[24] and the NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP) by the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) and Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). Campbell's emergence contributed to the start of the Luv Ya Blue era in Houston.
With quarterback Dan Pastorini nursing a mid-season shoulder injury, Campbell carried the Oilers to a five-game winning streak in 1979, which concluded with a 30–24 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, in which he rushed for 195 yards and two touchdowns. He finished the season with 1,697 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns, leading the league in both categories. Campbell also set NFL records with 11 100-yard rushing games, seven consecutive 100-yard games, and 368 carries. He was named NFL MVP by the AP, NEA, and PFWA. Campbell also repeated as the AP Offensive Player of the Year, and won the Bert Bell Award as the league's most outstanding player.
With his aggressive running style which favored running over players instead of around them, questions began to arise over how long Campbell could stay healthy. "He runs with a lot of reckless abandon," said Ron Johnson, a former running back whose own career was cut short. "You can run like that in college. But you can't do that for 10 years and hope to survive." Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris said, "Knocking over people can look very good but you can't do it forever. Sometimes it's going to be somebody else who knocks you over ... so the most important thing I think isn't to get a few extra yards every time but to make sure you're healthy enough to play." Bum Phillips, though, favored Campbell's running style. "I've been looking for a back like Earl," he said. "I'm not going to change his style. Why would I? You don't want a guy who gets hit and then flops on the ground. Earl does the same thing other backs do, only better."
After an 11–5 regular-season record in 1979, the Oilers defeated the Denver Broncos in the wild-card round for their first home playoff win since 1960. Houston then won the divisional round game against the San Diego Chargers despite both Pastorini and Campbell missing the game due to injuries. With both back in the lineup, however, the Oilers lost the conference championship game the following week against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Campbell was held to just 15 yards on 17 carries against Pittsburgh's "Steel Curtain" defense.
Campbell had his most productive rushing yardage season in 1980, with 1,934 yards in 15 games—an average of 128.9 yards per game. He finished 70 yards short of breaking O. J. Simpson's single-season rushing yards record set in 1973. Campbell again led the league in rushing yards and touchdowns, and broke his own record for carries, with 373. Over 60 percent of Campbell’s yards came in the fourth quarter. "That's when the tough get going," said Campbell. He had four games of over 200 rushing yards, a single-season record that still stands as of the end of the 2016 season. Campbell also threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to receiver Billy "White Shoes" Johnson against the Steelers for his only career completion out of three attempts. The Oilers again finished with an 11–5 regular-season record, but lost in the Wild Card Round to the Oakland Raiders. For the third straight year, Campbell was awarded the Jim Thorpe Trophy by the Newspaper Enterprise Association as the league's MVP, and named the Offensive Player of the Year by the AP.
Bum Phillips was fired three days after Houston's loss in the wild-card game, and defensive coordinator Ed Biles was given the head coaching job. In 1981, the Oilers finished 7–9 and failed to make the playoffs for the first time with Campbell on the roster. Campbell also did not claim the rushing yards title for the first time in his career as he finished fifth in yards with 1,376 and seventh in touchdowns with 10. The highlight of the season was back-to-back rushing performances of over 180 yards, against the Cincinnati Bengals during Week 5 and against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 6. His 39 carries against the Seahawks set an Oilers single-game record. Campbell was invited to his fourth Pro Bowl, but failed to make an All-Pro roster.
A players' strike in 1982 shortened the season to nine games and the Oilers finished with a 1–8 record. Campbell had just two touchdowns and 538 rushing yards, an average of 59.8 yards per game—far below his average of 104.1 per game over the previous four seasons.
Campbell's production improved greatly in 1983 as he had 1,301 yards and 12 touchdowns, and was invited to his fifth Pro Bowl. However, the Oilers finished the season tied for the worst record in the league at 2–14. Unhappy after he was pulled in the second half against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 10, Campbell demanded to be traded. He completed the season with the team but remained adamant with his demand in the off-season. "I'm tired of hearing every week how I'm too dumb, washed up, too dumb to read holes, can't block, can't catch the football," said Campbell. The team's back-to-back dismal seasons also added to his frustration.
In 1984, under new head coach Hugh Campbell, Houston started the season with six straight losses. After rushing for 278 yards total in the first six games of 1984, Campbell was traded to the New Orleans Saints, reuniting him with Bum Phillips.
The Saints received Campbell in exchange for their first-round draft pick in 1985,[50] with which Houston selected cornerback Richard Johnson. The trade came as a surprise in New Orleans; the team already had the young George Rogers, the 1981 No. 1 overall draft pick and that year's Rookie of the Year and rushing champion. With Campbell and Rogers, the Saints now had two Heisman Trophy winners in the backfield. In his first game with New Orleans, Campbell carried five times for 19 yards, and continued to have a diminished role in the offense throughout the rest of the season. He rushed for a total of 468 yards and four touchdowns in 1984, and failed to record a 100-yard game during the season.
Campbell’s final 100-yard game was his only one in 1985: a 160-yard outburst against the Minnesota Vikings in which he scored his only touchdown of the season. Campbell finished the year with 643 rushing yards on 158 carries.
After considering a return for one more season to reach 10,000 career rushing yards, Campbell retired during the 1986 preseason, feeling that the beating he had taken during his career had taken too much of a toll. "I'm a man; I'm not a little boy," said Campbell. "I believe this is the best thing—not only for myself, but for the Saints." He finished his career having rushed 2,187 times for 9,407 yards and 74 touchdowns to go along with 121 receptions for 806 yards in the regular season.
Campbell is widely acknowledged as one of the best power running backs in NFL history, and was highly regarded by his peers. "Every time you hit him you lower your own IQ," said Redskins linebacker Pete Wysocki. Cornerback Lester Hayes of the Raiders said, "Earl Campbell was put on this earth to play football." Cliff Harris, safety for the Cowboys, recalled Campbell as "the hardest-hitting running back I ever played against. He didn't have the elusiveness of an O. J. Simpson. But when you finished a game against Earl, you had to sit in a tub with Epsom salts." Bum Phillips, when asked if Campbell was in a class by himself, quipped, "I dunno. But if he ain't, it don't take long to call the roll."
Campbell is considered one of the greatest running backs in Texas Longhorns and college football history. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1990, along with fellow Heisman winner Jim Plunkett of Stanford. Campbell became the first Texas Longhorns football player to have his jersey retired by the university, his number 20 being retired in 1979. In 2000, an internet poll of Longhorns fans voted Campbell to Texas' All-Century team. He received the most votes, beating out recently graduated Ricky Williams.
On July 27, 1991, Campbell was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Others inducted in the 1991 class were John Hannah, Stan Jones, Tex Schramm, and Jan Stenerud. He was introduced at the ceremony by Bum Phillips. Campbell's jersey number 34 was retired by the Oilers in 1987. He was inducted as one of six charter members into the Titans Hall of Fame in 1999, although Campbell declined an invitation to the induction ceremony, stating, "I was a Houston Oiler, not a Tennessee Titan."
In 1999, Campbell was ranked number 33 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 greatest football players,[70] the highest-ranked player for the Houston Oilers franchise. In 2010, NFL Network ranked Campbell the 55th greatest player of all time in The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players, and he was ranked by the sportswriter Max Bertellotti of the Turner Sports Network as the number 3 "power back" of all time, behind Jim Brown and John Riggins.
Campbell was honored at halftime against Ohio State on September 9, 2006, including the unveiling of a 9-foot (2.7 m) bronze statue of Campbell in the southwest corner of Royal-Memorial Stadium. The same year, he was featured on the cover of Dave Campbell's Texas Football, an honor that eluded him during his playing days.
In 2019, Campbell was one of twelve running backs selected to the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
On January 13, 2020, Campbell was honored during the College Football Playoff National Championship for the 150th anniversary of college football. ESPN named him the 7th best college football player of all time.
Campbell was declared an official State Hero in 1981 by the Texas legislature, an honor previously bestowed upon only Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston and Davy Crockett.
A section of roadway in Tyler, Texas, extending from Loop 323 to SH155 was named the Earl Campbell Parkway at its opening in 2012. In 2013, the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, an award given to the best offensive player in NCAA Division I with Texas ties, was named in Campbell's honor.
While at the University of Texas, Campbell was a member of the honorary men's service organization, the Texas Cowboys. As of 2016, he still actively participates in University of Texas athletics, serving as special assistant to the football team. In 1990, Campbell founded Earl Campbell Meat Products, Inc. which manufactures and sells Earl Campbell's Smoked Sausage and other food products and barbecue sauce.[80] Campbell and his associates also opened a restaurant in 1999 on Sixth Street in Austin called Earl Campbell's Lone Star BBQ, which closed in 2001.
Campbell has two sons: Christian and Tyler. Christian played high school football with Drew Brees, the nephew of his father's former Longhorns teammate Marty Akins, at Westlake High and ran track for the University of Houston. Tyler was a running back for Pasadena City College and San Diego State but was forced to give up the sport due to multiple sclerosis (MS). He returned to Texas after graduation and divides his time between the family business and raising awareness of MS with his father.
Campbell has experienced various physical ailments in his later life. By 2001, at age 46, Campbell could barely close his fist due to arthritis in his hands. He developed foot drop due to nerve damage in his legs, and has difficulty bending his back and knees. Campbell was diagnosed with spinal stenosis in 2009. Because of his difficulty walking, Campbell uses a cane or a walker, and a wheelchair for longer distances. At first, he maintained the ailments were genetic, but said in 2012, "I think some of it came from playing football, playing the way I did."
In 2009, Campbell became addicted to painkillers prescribed for his spinal stenosis, taking as many as ten OxyContin pills a day with Budweiser. He went through rehabilitation and broke his addiction the same year, and since publicizing the incident in 2013, has spoken out about the dangers of substance abuse.
The Hawaii Professional Football League, or HPFL, was a proposed professional-football league based in the U.S. state of Hawaii, aiming for an inaugural season to start in February 2011 with four teams. The four teams are to be divided into two two-team divisions, the Leeward Division, and the Windward Division. The Waianae Sharks and Honolulu Volcanoes belong to the Leeward Division, and the Kailua Storm and Ko'olau Hurricanes belong to the Windward Division.
Founder and commissioner, Carson Peapealalo, who was a former football player at the University of Hawaii, has confirmed that the league is looking to grow beyond its inaugural 2011 season. He also has said that he will not expand out of the state of Hawaii, or west to another foreign country.
The basic shape of the HPFL is a triangle. The triangle points down, and it represents pride, action, and the community, plus the body, mind and the spirit. The space around the triangle represents the world and/or family that has come together.
The current playoff structure consists of all four teams making the playoffs, with two rounds. The two teams in both divisions match up against each other at the homefield of the top seed. The winners of both games meet in the championship game in early March.
For the 2011 inaugural season, all four teams will play a six-game regular season, (two games against each other team; one at home, one on the road) over six weeks, which means no BYE weeks like most other football leagues. There will be two playoff rounds, which includes the championship game in March.
There are some notable differences from other football leagues. No touchbacks on kickoffs, unless the ball bounces out of the end zone. (Ball automatically placed on 20-yard line. Same overtime rules as college football. Endzone and sideline celebrations are allowed. 3-point conversion after touchdown will be incorporated. (Ball placed on 10-yard line)
