Juke99
12-07-2010, 06:38 AM
Remembering Don Meredith as a Football Player
By ANDY BARALL
Don Meredith is probably best remembered as Howard Cosell’s foil in the wild and crazy early days of “Monday Night Football.” In the booth, he effectively played the role of country bumpkin or class clown. On the football field, however, he was as tough as they came.
After an outstanding career as a two-time all-American at S.M.U., Meredith was selected by the Bears in the third round of the 1960 draft (32nd overall). To get the jump on signing players away from the newly formed A.F.L., and to prevent the new league from using its draft list to determine the best players, the N.F.L. held its draft that year in secret, in December 1959.
A few weeks before the draft, Meredith signed a personal services contract with Clint Murchison, the owner of the expansion franchise in Dallas, then known as the Rangers. In those years, new teams could not participate in the draft until after their first year of operation, so George Halas picked him and then traded his rights to Dallas so that the expansion team could have a local star. Gil Brandt calls Meredith “the original Cowboy.”
http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/remembering-don-meredith-as-a-football-player/?ref=sports
By ANDY BARALL
Don Meredith is probably best remembered as Howard Cosell’s foil in the wild and crazy early days of “Monday Night Football.” In the booth, he effectively played the role of country bumpkin or class clown. On the football field, however, he was as tough as they came.
After an outstanding career as a two-time all-American at S.M.U., Meredith was selected by the Bears in the third round of the 1960 draft (32nd overall). To get the jump on signing players away from the newly formed A.F.L., and to prevent the new league from using its draft list to determine the best players, the N.F.L. held its draft that year in secret, in December 1959.
A few weeks before the draft, Meredith signed a personal services contract with Clint Murchison, the owner of the expansion franchise in Dallas, then known as the Rangers. In those years, new teams could not participate in the draft until after their first year of operation, so George Halas picked him and then traded his rights to Dallas so that the expansion team could have a local star. Gil Brandt calls Meredith “the original Cowboy.”
http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/remembering-don-meredith-as-a-football-player/?ref=sports