Bill Dudley, Slow, Small, but an N.F.L. Star, Dies at 88

[joeybee12]

Bill Dudley, who had a Hall of Fame career as one of college and professional football’s most dynamic running backs in the 1940s and early 1950s despite a small frame and a lack of speed, died Thursday. He was 88 and lived in Lynchburg, Va.

After a stellar career at the University of Virginia, Dudley was the Pittsburgh Steelers’ top draft choice in 1942 and named the National Football League’s most valuable player in 1946 after leading the league in rushing, punt returns and interceptions. (He also played defensive back.) He played nine seasons in the N.F.L., four of them as an All-Pro.

Known as Bullet Bill, he was hardly speedy. In a sprint contest before an all-star game, he ranked 15th among 16 running backs. But in the game, he ran back a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown.

Quarterback Sammy Baugh, an N.F.L. contemporary, said Dudley’s running success puzzled him. “We always wondered how he gained as much yardage as he did,” Baugh once said. “But he had that instinct. He would do things that always amazed me, how he could get out of trouble.”

At 5 feet 10 inches, Dudley weighed 150 pounds in high school, 170 in college and 182 in the pros. He entered college at 16 and became a runner, passer, receiver, punter, punt returner, kicker (no steps, just a pendulum swing), kickoff returner and defensive back.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/05/sports/football/05dudley.html?hpw

[misanthrope]

1. There were plenty of 5-10, 170 lb. college RBs in the early 1940s...

...In fact, that would have been almost big enough to play on the line for a lot of college teams then. He must have been awfully slow to have been considered out-of-place in those days.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. Filed under: Faint Praise

ouch!