I grew up watching the Donkeys lose every way imaginable - it's more than reasonable to think the phrase, "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory", was coined specifically with the Denver Broncos in mind.
But then along came Floyd and things began to change.
Floyd Little, a Hall of Fame running back who starred at Syracuse University and later for the Denver Broncos, died Jan. 1 at his home in Henderson, Nev. He was 78.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the death Friday night. The cause was cancer.
Mr. Little was a three-time all-American at Syracuse, where he wore No. 44, like Jim Brown and Ernie Davis before him. From 1964 to 1966, he ran for 2,704 yards and 46 touchdowns.
He was the sixth overall pick in the 1967 AFL-NFL draft and played nine seasons in Denver. He earned the nickname “The Franchise” because his signing was credited with keeping the team from relocating and helped persuade voters to approve funds to upgrade Mile High Stadium, which has since been replaced.
A five-time Pro Bowler, he led the NFL in rushing yards (1,133) in 1971 and in touchdown runs (12) in 1973. He also was one of the game’s best return men, leading the AFL in punt return average as a rookie in 1967.
During his nine-year pro career, the 5-foot-10, 195-pound Mr. Little rushed for 6,323 yards and 43 touchdowns and caught 215 passes for 2,418 yards and nine scores. He had the most all-purpose yards in pro football and ranked second only to O.J. Simpson in rushing yards during the years he was active.
Mr. Little was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010, after a three-decade wait. He told the AP that he had given up hope of ever making it into the Hall of Fame.
“I was running out of guys who had seen me play,” he said. “The people that had seen me play were starting to fade off and retire. All these guys were no longer there, so who’s going to talk about Floyd Little? Nobody. I thought I’d just fallen through the cracks, never to be seen or heard from again.”
Floyd Douglas Little was born July 4, 1942, in New Haven, Conn. He was persuaded to attend Syracuse by Ernie Davis, the first Black player to win the Heisman Trophy. Davis, who had worn No. 44 at Syracuse after Brown had the number, died of leukemia in 1963.
When Mr. Little was given No. 44, it cemented a Syracuse tradition of outstanding running backs with that number. (The number was retired in 2005.) In 1965, Mr. Little was the first Syracuse runner to gain 1,000 yards in a season. He finished fifth in the Heisman voting two times.
He graduated from Syracuse in 1967 and received a master’s degree in legal administration from the University of Denver in 1975.
During his long wait for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Mr. Little said he was regularly approached by fans wanting him to settle a bet: Which year did he go into the Hall of Fame?
“And I have to tell them I’m not in the Hall of Fame and I’ve never even been nominated,” he said. On the eve of his selection, he said he’d had a premonition that his time was coming at last.
“It’s the 44th Super Bowl,” he said in 2010. “An African American just became our 44th president. I wore No. 44. I just feel it’s my time.”
When he received the call that he would be enshrined, Mr. Little said, “I was numb.”
After his football career ended in 1975, he had a car dealership in Seattle for 32 years. From 2011 to 2016, he returned to Syracuse as a special assistant to the athletic director.
A few years ago, my kids went in together and got me an autographed ball for Christmas.
Respect forever, Floyd.
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