Floyd Little, the great back-running player who played in Syracuse and the Denver Broncos, has died. He was 78 years old.
The world-famous professional football hall said he died Friday night at his home in Nevada. No cause was given.
“Floyd Little wasn’t just a Hall of Fame running back, he was a Hall of Fame person,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “Faith, family and football were the pillars of his life.”
The little one was three times All-American at Syracuse, where he wore the number 44 as Jim Brown and Ernie Davis before him. From 1964 to 1966, it rushed for 2,704 meters and 46 landings.
Originally from New Haven, Connecticut, he was the sixth overall pick in the 1967 AFL-NFL draft. He played nine seasons in Denver, where he earned the nickname “Franchise,” as his signing was credited with preventing the team from moving. helped persuade voters to approve funding for the old and iconic Mile High Stadium, which has since been replaced by Empower. Field at Mile High.
“I know when I got there, the conversation was about moving the team to Chicago or Birmingham,” Little said in an interview in 2009. “So I saved the franchise and I think (the team’s former spokesman) Jim Saccomano told me given that nickname. It’s been part of my name ever since. “
Little was introduced in the college’s famous football hall in 1983 and in the professional football hall in 2010.
“Floyd Little was a true hero of the game,” said David Baker, president and CEO of the trade show. “He was a man with great integrity, passion and courage. His off-field contributions have been even greater than his amazing achievements on the subject. Floyd’s smile, heart, and character were what it meant to have a life in the Hall of Fame. “
Five-time Pro Bowler, Little led the NFL in rushing in 1971 with 1,133 yards and scoring in 1973 with 12. He was also one of the best players to return to the league, leading the AFL in point returns. as a novice in 1967.
During his nine-year professional career, Little rushed for 6,323 yards and 43 touchdowns and caught 215 passes for 2,418 yards and nine touchdowns. He had the most universal courts in professional football and was second only to OJ Simpson in heavy courts in his career.
After a three-decade wait, Little came to Canton in 2010. When he was nominated by the hall’s high-level committee, he told the AP that he had given up hope of ever reaching the Hall of Fame.
“I was left with no boys who had seen me play,” said Little, whose career in Denver spanned 1967-75, hard times in the history of the former AFL franchise. “People who saw me playing were starting to fade and retreat. All these guys weren’t there anymore, so who’s going to talk about Floyd Little? No one. I thought I had fallen through the cracks and that I would never see or hear from myself again. “
He was never forgotten in Denver, where the team’s late owner, Bow Bowlen, once praised “Little’s immeasurable contributions to this franchise and the NFL.”
Little has been a vibrant presence at Broncos meetings and events over the years.
During his long wait for consecration, Little said he was regularly approached by fans to make a bet: in what year did he enter the Hall of Fame?
“And I have to tell you that I’m not in the Hall of Fame and I wasn’t even nominated,” Little said in the months leading up to his selection on February 6, 2010.
Little decided not to delude himself and a few years later, the top committee nominated him, allowing him to dream again of the immortality of football. On the eve of his selection, he said he had a hunch that his time would finally come.
“It’s the 44th Super Bowl,” Little said in 2010. “An African-American has just become our 44th president. I put no. 44. I feel it’s my time. “
He was right: Hall Vice President Joe Horrigan called him with the good news the day before New Orleans’ 31-17 victory over Indianapolis in the Super Bowl.
“He was numb,” Little said. “I knew he wasn’t calling to say I was overlooked again.”
Little said he learned a valuable lesson that day: “Well, don’t give up on your dreams,” even if it’s to ease the pain of early rejection.
Little, who had sold his car dealership in Seattle after 32 years shortly before his nomination, returned to Syracuse the following year as special assistant to the athletic director, a position he held until 2016, when he received a honorary doctorate from the University.
After that, Little and his wife moved to Las Vegas.
A former Little teammate of Little’s in Syracuse, Pat Killorin, made Little’s diagnosis of cancer public in May, when he created a GoFundMe page to help the family with treatment costs.
Floyd is survived by his wife, Deborah.